Corinne Peek-Asa, associate dean for research and professor of occupational and environmental health in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).

Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. This year, the NAM elected 100 new members.

Peek-Asa is internationally renowned for her research in injury and violence prevention. Her work includes studies of global road-traffic safety, interpersonal violence, workplace safety, traumatic brain injury, and adverse childhood experiences and trauma. Her research has inspired national legislation, and she helped develop injury and violence data collection systems in five countries.

“Dr. Peek-Asa’s valuable contributions to the field of injury prevention have helped improve the health and safety of people all over the world,” says Edith Parker, dean of the UI College of Public Health. “We’re very proud of her accomplishments and this well-deserved recognition from the National Academy of Medicine.”

New members are elected by current members through a process that recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health. A diversity of talent among NAM’s membership is assured by its Articles of Organization, which stipulate that at least one-quarter of the membership is selected from fields outside the health professions—for example, from such fields as law, engineering, social sciences, and the humanities.

“This distinguished and diverse class of new members is a truly exceptional group of scholars and leaders whose expertise in science, medicine, health, and policy will be integral to helping the NAM address today’s most pressing health challenges and inform the future of health and health care for the benefit of everyone around the globe,” said National Academy of Medicine President Victor J. Dzau. “It is my privilege to welcome these esteemed individuals to the National Academy of Medicine.”

Peek-Asa received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of New Mexico, followed by a Master of Public Health and PhD in epidemiology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She was on the faculty in the Department of Epidemiology at UCLA before joining Iowa in 2001.

From 2006 to 2020, Peek-Asa directed the UI Injury Prevention Research Center (UI IPRC), one of nine Injury Control Research Centers funded by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 2008, she has directed one of six International Trauma Training programs funded by the National Institutes of Health. She has served as the associate dean for research in the UI College of Public Health since 2011.

Peek-Asa has co-authored more than 225 peer-reviewed papers and authored numerous book chapters. She is a current or past member of many national boards, committees, and professional organizations, and has served as president of the Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR).

Her many honors and awards include the UI May Brodbeck Faculty Award for Excellence in 2017, and she was named an inaugural awardee of the UI Distinguished Professorship program by the UI Office of the Provost in 2020. In February 2020, she was Iowa’s 37th presidential lecturer.