The University of Iowa College of Public Health has selected Victor Soupene, a postdoctoral research scholar in the UI Departments of Occupational and Environmental Health and Emergency Medicine, as a 2025-2026 Policy Fellow.

The year-long Policy Fellow Program, offered through the Institute for Public Health Practice, Research and Policy (IPHPRP), creates opportunities for primary faculty and research staff appointed in the College of Public Health to enhance skills for translating public health research into practice and policy.

Soupene’s project will focus on suicide prevention among law enforcement officers in the U.S. In previous research conducted for his dissertation, Soupene looked at firearm suicide rates across occupational groups and found that law enforcement officers face disproportionately high rates compared to all other occupational groups nationally. Suicide rates were more than twice the national average for male officers and six times the national average for female officers.

“My research suggests that having work-related access to firearms and job-related stress significantly contributes to this elevated risk,” says Soupene.

Soupene’s dissertation research also revealed a gap in knowledge about what suicide prevention programs, policies, and practices are currently in place in law enforcement agencies, how effective they are, and whether they are acceptable to the officers they are meant to serve.

During his Policy Fellowship, Soupene will examine the acceptability and feasibility of existing suicide prevention interventions within law enforcement in Iowa as well as identify best practices for adapting and implementing these strategies. He will develop and share a comprehensive inventory and policy brief of suicide prevention policies, programs, and practices available to law enforcement agencies. He will also organize focus groups with Iowa law enforcement stakeholders to discuss strengths and barriers to implementing suicide prevention programs.

“Ultimately, I hope to contribute to the development of sustainable, evidence-informed organizational policies and programs that reduce suicide risk among law enforcement officers that may also offer valuable insights for other professions with access to firearms,” Soupene says.

Additional team members include Carri Casteel, Lisa Roth, and Ann Saba from the University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center.

Learn more about the IIPHRP Policy Fellow Program at this link.