Summer Research Opportunities

December 2007

Departments/Executive Officers

• Biostatistics—Kathryn Chaloner, PhD
• Community and Behavioral Health—Linda Snetselaar, RD, PhD
• Epidemiology—James Torner, PhD
• Health Management and Policy—Barry Greene, MA, PhD
• Occupational and Environmental Health—Craig Zwerling, MD

Areas of Research Interest

Dr. Elizabeth Chrischilles, Health Effectiveness Research Center, Epidemiology

Dr. Chrischilles is Director of the Health Effectiveness Research Center (HERCe), which is a collaborative research enterprise between the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy and Department of Epidemiology (College of Public Health). The center’s mission is to 1) promote and conduct studies of variation in and effectiveness of preventive and therapeutic interventions and 2) assemble and provide methodologic expertise and databases for healthcare effectiveness research and education. Associated faculty and staff possess the specialized expertise required for both the analysis of large secondary databases and to conduct and evaluate outcomes of health interventions through primary data collection in community-based studies.

Opportunities exist for students to become involved with one of several ongoing research projects or for students to initiate their own project utilizing HERCe resources. Research activities will expose students to cutting edge methods used to measure effectiveness of health care such as: quality of life and cost of care measurement; instrumental variables analysis; risk factor identification, risk adjustment, and propensity score analysis; and database verification and linkage .
e-chrischilles@uiowa.edu

Dr. Gregory Gray, Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology

Greg Gray is a public health physician, a Professor of Epidemiology, and Director of University of Iowa’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases. He serves as a member of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board and is a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. His research interests include, the epidemiology of viral respiratory infections, zoonotic infections, rapid diagnostics, vaccine trials, and tropical infectious diseases. He has conducted epidemiological studies of emerging pathogens and tropical infectious diseases in the United States, as well as in remote areas of South America, Africa, and the Middle East. He has authored more than 140 publications in the peer-reviewed medical literature.

Students interested in emerging infectious diseases have numerous opportunities to become engaged in the Center. They may work as interns in the Center's Emerging Pathogen Laboratory and learn virological techniques such as viral culturing (embryonated eggs and shell vials), viral identification (rapid diagnostics, fluorescent Ab, PCR and RT-PCR), viral stain typing (serological, restriction enzyme analyses, PCR/RT-PCR, and gene sequencing), and serological studies for past infections. Students may propose independent research collaborations with the Center. A number of these student-led projects have led to publications. `Current and previous research projects are summarized on the Center's web site: http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/CEID/. Students may also become engaged in field studies in the United States or overseas. See the Center's training and photographic pages for opportunities and examples.
gregory-gray@uiowa.edu

Dr. Barry Greene, Health Management and Policy

Dr. Greene is interested in studying the relationship between geographic factors and the use of promotion and preventive health services. There are different ways or methodologies for studying these variables, and he is particularly interested in testing some of these alternative methods. This involves studying people who are from Iowa and will eventually examine people from other states as well. Health care by its very nature is a relational variable in that it involves patients and providers who are separated by many types of spatial factors. Those factors are what will be studied as they relate to different forms of cancer.

Also, Dr. Greene is the PI on a project that relates to the referral relationships between chiropractors (DCs) and conventional medical doctors (MDs). The majority of DCs see themselves as "primary care providers" as do certain types of MDs such as family practice physicians. These relationships are particularly important in light of implications for primary care services in general and some of the legislation that is being proposed in the Veterans Affairs medical systems where DC would be admitted to the staff as direct contact providers.
barry-greene@uiowa.edu

Dr. Corinne Peek-Asa, Injury Prevention Research Center, Occupational and Environmental Health

Dr. Peek-Asa conducts a broad research program in injury control and prevention through the University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center. The Center examines all aspects of injuries as a health issue, including unintentional (e.g. motor vehicle crashes) and intentional (e.g. domestic violence) injuries and ranging from critical care to disability. Dr. Peek-Asa has specific opportunities in the areas of workplace violence, domestic violence, rural traumatic injury, and geographical mapping applications.
corinne-peek-asa@uiowa.edu

Dr. Christine Petersen, Assistant Prof. Vet Path, Iowa State University, Adjunct Assistant. Prof, Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Iowa

Opportunities exist at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, for the study of:

Animal Shelter Parasites - to study animal shelter management practices and correlation to zoonotic parasitic infection of shelter cats and people.

• Stated purpose or goal(s) of the Practicum
  Determine effect of different shelter management practices on feline and human zoonotic parasite infection

• Description of planned objectives and activities to meet the goal(s):
  Using already gathered shelter cat parasite infection data, as well as potentially gathering further data, determine prevalence of Toxocara canis, Trichuris vulpis, Baylisascaris and other zoonotic intestinal parasite infection
  
  Use tools from Epidemiology and Statistics to develop an interview to use with shelter contacts that decreases all bias and establishes known risk factors for intestinal parasites in shelter cats and people
  
  Using interviews with shelter staff and veterinarians, determine the environment and exposures of people to intestinal parasites due to current shelter management protocols
  
  Use basic statistics to determine odds ratios of different environments exposures in inducing or preventing intestinal parasite infection of shelter animals and people

Leishmania Infantum - to study the risk factors which predispose to canine and/or human infection with the zoonotic disease Leishmania infantum.

• Stated purpose or goal(s) of the Practicum
  Determine the transmission routes and risk factors of Leishmania infantum infection in foxhounds and humans in the US.

• Description of planned objectives and activities to meet the goal(s):
  Using online databases and interviews with masters of foxhounds and huntsmen, determine the lineages, environment and exposures of Leishmania infected hounds.
  
  Using interviews with masters of foxhounds and huntsmen, determine the environment and exposures of people working with Leishmania infected hounds.
  
  Use tools from Epidemiology and Statistics to develop an interview to use with foxhound contacts that decreases all bias and establishes known risk factors for Leishmania infection in US foxhounds and people.
  
  Use basic statistics to determine odds ratios of different environments, lineages and exposures in inducing or preventing Leishmania infection

kalicat@iastate.edu

Dr. Robert Wallace, Center on Aging, Epidemiology

There are opportunities to work in the area of the epidemiological study of aging processes and their effects on disease and disability and disability risk. Conditions include cancer, heart disease, stroke and dementia (Alzheimer's disease). Activities include doing analyses of data that will search for disease causes, participating in the conduct of clinical trials related to the prevention of osteoporosis, fractures, coronary disease and breast and colon cancer.
robert-wallace@uiowa.edu

Contact Information

Students interested in research fellowships in public health are encouraged to contact the appropriate Department. Applications from students from underrepresented minority groups are encouraged to apply.