A team of University of Iowa researchers have been awarded a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to survey primary care providers and the general public every three to four months on various immunization-related issues.

Co-investigators from the University of Iowa College of Public Health are Christine Petersen, professor of epidemiology and director of the UI’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, and Natoshia Askelson, assistant professor of community and behavioral health.

Aaron Scherer, associate professor of Internal Medicine in the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, is the principal investigator.

The information obtained from the surveys will help researchers identify and address patient and health care provider barriers to a variety of immunization-related issues and could help inform future immunization-related recommendations and policies.

The research team also includes Courtney Gidengil and Andrew Parker from the RAND Corp. and will receive survey and statistical support from the Iowa Social Science Research Center.