epidemiology

Li Li, MS, a doctoral student of epidemiology at the Ohio State University College of Public Health, is the first author of an article examining individual- and state-level factors associated with teens texting while driving. The study, done in conjunction with researchers from The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), looked at Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from 35 states.

Jin Peng, MD, MS, PhD candidate of epidemiology at The Ohio State University College of Public Health, received the Joseph J. Tepas Award at the 2017 Pediatric Trauma Society Annual Meeting in November. The competitive award is issued annually to recognize non-physician researchers who demonstrate excellence in pediatric trauma research.

Peng was honored for her dissertation research, “Caregiver-perceived Barriers to Return for Follow-up after Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI),” which was funded in part by an Ohio Department of Safety (ODPS) EMS grant.

Maria Gallo, PhD, associate professor in The Ohio State University College of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology, received a $120,000 grant from the Society of Family Planning to help educate adult women about contraceptive options in Kingston, Jamaica.

Gallo and the research team hope to debunk myths and confusion surrounding contraceptive safety. Contraceptive methods often go unused because of false concerns about the side effects and health risks associated with them, according to Gallo.

With syphilis rates rising across the country, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has awarded a $1.589 million grant to The Ohio State University faculty members William Miller, MD, MPH, chair of the College of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology, and Abigail Norris Turner, PhD, associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the College of Medicine and CPH associate professor of epidemiology, to help examine the reasons for the increase.