Letter from our Directors
As we began compiling this report, it was like stepping into a time capsule, taken back to a period merely five years ago. Back in 2019, our center was a lot different. We were amidst the flurry of planning our inaugural research symposium, and the hum of productivity resonated through our office walls, where we dutifully clocked in five days a week.
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic swept in, fundamentally reshaping our work dynamics. This left us with a symposium put on hold and research that could not continue in the same way. However, amidst this global upheaval, we found ourselves fortunate to have the flexibility and resilience necessary to adapt. Despite the challenges, we persevered, continuing our mission to make meaningful strides in injury prevention within our community.
Indeed, COVID-19 wasn't the sole force reshaping our center. With the CDC issuing its first call for research proposals concerning gun violence in 2021, a new era of funding emerged. This paved the way for the establishment of the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, led by our very own co-director, Patrick Carter. Concurrently, the availability of opioid epidemic settlement funds culminated in the formation of the Opioid Research Institute.
Amidst this evolving landscape, our center underwent its own staffing changes. New faces graced our ranks, with Nichole Burnside assuming the role of Managing Director in 2021 and Douglas Wiebe joining as codirector in 2022. These changes prompted us to recharge our center's role on campus, sparking a reimagining of our purpose and potential.
Looking to the future, we envision the U-M Injury Prevention Center to continue as a leader, not only across our campus but throughout the Great Lakes Region, as well as nationally. As you peruse this report, you'll witness the impact we've had over the past half-decade, alongside our aspirations for the years to come. We envision ourselves as pioneers, forging connections and nurturing the next generation of injury prevention advocates and scholars. Through our collective efforts, we aim to make a meaningful impact in the ever-changing field of injury prevention.
Looking to the future, we envision the U-M Injury Prevention Center as a leader, not only across our campus but throughout the Great Lakes Region, as well as nationally.
In partnership,
Douglas Wiebe Co-Director
Nichole Burnside
Managing Director
Patrick Carter
Co-Director
Maureen Walton
Senior Associate Director, and Research Core Director
About Our Center
The University of Michigan (U-M) has been a national leader in injury prevention since the establishment of the Injury Prevention Center (IPC) in 1997. In 2009, the Center, which is part of the Department of Emergency Medicine, merged with similar groups from the School of Public Health and the Transportation Research Institute. This partnership created the U-M Injury Prevention Center, which has a broad focus on various injury prevention areas.
Since unifying as a Center, we have expanded into new areas, addressing urgent and emerging injury issues. Our multi-disciplinary faculty creates synergy across research, education, and outreach activities. The U-M Injury Prevention Center received CDC ICRC funding in 2012, 2017, and 2019.
We are dedicated to meeting the needs of the Great Lakes region and beyond, evaluating the broader injury prevention needs of the nation. We align our work with the CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control priority areas to ensure our activities serve locally, regionally, and nationally.
In this cycle, our Center provided infrastructure to support,
coordinate, and advance an injury prevention agenda focused on:
• Drug overdose prevention
• Suicide prevention
• Older adult falls
• Transportation safety
• Traumatic brain injury (concussion)
• Violence prevention (youth violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence)
• Adverse childhood experiences
• Other emerging areas
Additionally, we prioritize including communities most affected by injury.
Working Together to Prevent Injury: Our Partners
The field of injury prevention is rapidly growing, presenting numerous opportunities for us to make a significant impact. We are excited about what this means for the Injury Prevention Center.
Our center has a long history and has produced research we're very proud of and look forward to continuing in the future. This research has been instrumental in securing funding for new, independent centers, like the Concussion Center and the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention.
With so much specialized injury prevention research happening on campus, we aim to establish ourselves as a central hub. Unlike other centers, we focus on nine diverse areas: concussion, opioid and overdose, motor vehicle crashes, violence prevention, older adult falls, suicide prevention, global injury prevention, ACEs, and other emerging areas. This broad focus allows us to connect and collaborate with other centers and researchers, creating synergies that enhance our collective impact.
Additionally, we want to extend our reach beyond the University of Michigan and strengthen our connections with organizations across the Great Lakes region.
Some of the collaborations at U-M and beyond include:
University of Michigan Departments and Centers
• Department of Anesthesiology
• Department of Emergency Medicine
• Department of Psychiatry
• Department of Surgery
• Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention
• Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation
• Opioid Research Institute
• University of Michigan Concussion Center
• University of Michigan Office of Research
• University of Michigan Medical School
• University of Michigan School of Public Health
• University of Michigan School of Social Work
• University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
Health Departments and Organizations
• Great Lakes & Mid-Atlantic (GLMA) Violence and Injury Prevention Regional Network
• Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center
• Medical College of Wisconsin
• Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
• Midwest Injury Prevention Alliance (MIPA)
• Tennessee Department of Health
Core Projects
Each 5-year cycle, four research projects are funded. These research projects result in several publications and outreach activities that drive our work. The projects for this cycle are on the topics of opioid overdose, older adult falls, and suicide prevention.
Examining Opioid Overdose Risk in the Context of Changing Patterns of Opioid Prescribing and Overdose
This project aims to analyze patient-level risk factors for opioid overdose and assess how changes in opioid prescribing practices within VHA facilities relate to overdose death rates for different types of opioids.
Lewei (Allison) Lin, MD, MS Department of Psychiatry
Overdose and Fall Risk Concentration Among Benzodiazepine Users
This study investigates clinical characteristics and intensity of benzodiazepine usage that contribute to fall-related injuries and overdose risks in older adults.
Donovan Maust, MD, MS Department of Psychiatry
Translation of a Military/Veterans Crisis Line for Suicide Prevention Using Crisis Line Facilitation
This research compares the effectiveness of Crisis Line Facilitation versus Passive Implementation on various outcomes, including crisis line usage and mental health service utilization, while exploring stakeholder perspectives for better implementation.
Mark Ilgen, PhD Department of Psychiatry
Association Between State-Level Prescription Opioid Limitation Laws and Suicide Outcomes
This project evaluates how state-level opioid prescription limitation laws are related to both suicide mortality and nonfatal suicide outcomes using data coding and analysis.
Jason Goldstick, PhD Emergency Medicine
CORE PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
Encouraging use of the Military/Veterans Crisis Line for Suicide Prevention Using Crisis Line Facilitation
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Military veterans and service members are 1.5–2.5x more likely to die by suicide than the general population. Dr. Ilgen and his team are studying a brief intervention called Crisis Line Facilitation, which is a program that uses motivational interviewing and rehearsal techniques to increase crisis line use and improve outcomes. In previous research by Dr. Ilgen, those receiving this intervention were less likely to have a suicide attempt, and clinics found the intervention feasible to administer. Building off these results, Dr. Ilgen is studying the crisis line facilitation intervention in a National Guard population by modifying the intervention to be used in a group format. Preliminary results showed increased confidence and knowledge about using a crisis line after receiving this intervention.
Our researchers have leveraged funds from our core and exploratory research projects to secure >$14 million (~9x ROI) and >$36 million (~76.3x ROI) from federal, state, and other funding sources, respectively, since 2012 a ~24.1X return on total investment (and growing) on research projects.
Exploratory Research Projects
Our Exploratory Pilot Program gives early-stage researchers funding and mentorship on small research projects. This allows researchers to explore topics, methods, and ideas that may not receive funding otherwise. The goal of these projects is to provide pilot data for a larger study.
OPIOID OVERDOSE
Developing and Piloting a Method to Identify Warning Signs for Opioid Overdose
Courtney Bagge Department of Psychiatry
Amy Bohnert Department of Psychiatry
VIOLENCE PREVENTION
Exploring Factors Related to Firearm Violence among LGBTQ+ Youth and Young Adults of Color
Kristi Gamarel School of Public Health
Family Safety Net: Universal Firearm Safety to Keep Youth Safe at Home
Lisa Wexler School of Social Work
Reluctant owners and unwanted firearms: Investigating factors motivating disposal of unwanted firearms
David Humphreys Visiting Professor at U-M University of Oxford
MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH
Evaluating a Virtual Reality Game for Teen Drivers
Andrew Hashikawa Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Eyes Forward, Mind Focused: A Survey of Distracted Driving and Mindfulness Among Young Drivers
Renee St. Louis University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
Colleen Peterson University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
OLDER ADULT FALLS
Unintended Consequences of Medicare Policy for Post-Hospital Injuries among Older Adults
Geoffrey Hoffman School of Nursing
SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION
Adapting an Evidencebased Sexual Assault Prevention Intervention for Online Delivery
Sarah Peitzmeier School of Nursing
CONCUSSION
Return to Sport Following Symptom Free Supervised Exercise
Matthew Lorincz NeuroSport
Andrea Almeida NeuroSport
University of Michigan Alumni Neurological Health Study: Phase 2
Eleanna Varangis School of Kinesiology
James Eckner Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Philip Veliz School of Nursing
RESEARCH PROJECT HIGHLIGHT
Ivy League-B1G Ten Epidemiology of Concussion Study
Whenever we, as concussion researchers, talk to people about our work, the question always comes up: "Are sports safe?" Our answers can be long or short, but we usually say, "It's complicated."
There's no doubt that playing sports has real benefits. It keeps you physically active, helps you feel like part of a team, and improves your communication skills. But on the other hand, there are risks, like getting injured or having repeated concussions.
So, can we say that the benefits of playing sports outweigh the risks? Not for sure. However, we all share a common goal: making sports safer.
The Ivy League-Big Ten Epidemiology of Concussion study was started in the Ivy League in 2013 as a multi-site, prospective, cohort study to characterize the epidemiology of concussions among student athletes in the Ivy League and Big Ten Conferences. The study is an achievement of the Big Ten–Ivy League Traumatic Brain Injury Research Collaboration (TBI Collaboration), and now a free-standing study with the vision and goals listed below.
This project is not funded by our CDC grant.
Vision
To improve the understanding of the epidemiology of sportsrelated concussion (SRC) and foster safe participation in collegiate athletics.
Study Goals
Active participating institutions 21
6
Concussion cases collected 4000+ Publications (and counting)
• To obtain epidemiologic data regarding the incidence of concussion, mechanism of injury, and return to academic and sport participation timelines of concussion for varsity and club sports endorsed by the Ivy League and Big Ten conferences
• To identify opportunities to improve the health and safety of current and future student-athletes regarding sport-related injuries
• To provide a Study infrastructure supporting a collaborative and participatory research community
Symposium
Dr. Abigail Bretzin presenting at the 2024 Symposium
Each year, we host the Ivy League-Big Ten Epidemiology of Concussion annual symposium as an opportunity for the participating sites to gather and discuss the current state of the study and identify opportunities to enhance the study.
The symposium is designed to facilitate conversation and information sharing to put research to practice and improve the study as a whole.
In 2024, the symposium was held in Ann Arbor.
Attendees of the 2024 Symposium in Ann Arbor
Providing and Sharing Knowledge
We know that our work can go much farther if we share and build upon the knowledge we gain. One way we do this is by hosting events to gather other injury prevention researchers and practitioners together. These events allow us to foster a rich community, share knowledge, and expand our thinking about these important topics.
Injury Prevention Center Symposium Speakers and Attendees, March 2024.
Research Symposia
At our research symposia, we create a space for injury prevention researchers to share their work and ideas. Over the past five years, we have hosted three symposia. At our most recent symposium, we engaged an artist to capture our conversation.
Lunch & Learns
These events allow us to connect researchers and practitioners with students or other interested members of the injury prevention community. Most are geared towards public health students looking to learn more about different injury prevention topics. We also invite distinguished faculty or researchers to share their work at these events. In addition, each summer we host 10 lunch and learns for our student interns to engage with different injury prevention topics.
Summits
It’s critical to strategically focus on key injury prevention topics over time. Our summits allow us to gather researchers around relevant topics and get much-needed information shared when it is most important. In 2021, we hosted The Science of Suicide Prevention: New Strategies for Understanding and Intervening. In 2023, we hosted Learning Without Violence: A School Violence Prevention Virtual Summit.
Workshops and Webinars
In partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), we hosted three webinars with the goal of educating prescribing physicians about the 2022 CDC Clinical Practice Guidelines around safe opioid prescribing. The topics of the webinars included reviewing the CDC Clinical Practice Guidelines, and harm reduction. The webinars allowed us to share our other initiative with MDHHS, the Safer Prescribing Toolkit.
Online Toolkits and Sharable Resources
Helping Teens Drive Safely Checkpoints
Checkpoints is an evidence-based teen driver safety program. Originally adapted from an in-person course that teen drivers would take with their parents, Checkpoints is a self-paced, online program with the goal of increasing communication between teen drivers and their parents to keep their first year of licensure safe. We maintain partnerships to offer the program in Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Wyoming.
Educating Healthcare Providers Safer Prescribing Toolkit
The Safer Prescribing Toolkit, funded by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), offers resources related to safe prescribing and caring for those with opioid use disorder. In the last year, we re-branded the toolkit and renamed it the “Safer Prescribing Toolkit” to account for new sections about stimulant and benzodiazapine prescribing.
Providing Overdose Surveillance System for Opioid Overdose Surveillance (SOS)
A key component of addressing this crisis is timely surveillance, which can guide resource allocation for rapid response and prevention. The tool offers county-level summaries, maps non-fatal and fatal opioid overdose incidents in near real-time, and provides demographic briefs. This interactive dashboard includes features that allow users to tailor visualizations to meet their specific needs. Users can select a data source, a zoom window, and a time frame to display points and descriptive summaries of suspected overdoses.
Reporting on Important Topics Impact of Recreational Cannabis Legalization in Michigan (2020)
This initial baseline report provides insights into cannabisrelated injury, social, and health indicators prior to 2018, before the recreational cannabis law was enacted in Michigan. This report sets the stage for future reports to examine whether changes in these indicators occur in the years following the passage of the 2018 law.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Injury Prevention for Children & Teens
Our Injury Prevention for Children/ Teens MOOC is the nation’s most comprehensive online pediatric injury prevention course featuring 59 video-learning segments in modular themes taught by 30 nationally recognized faculty.
Impacting the Opioid Crisis: Prevention, Education, and Practice for the Non-Prescribing Providers
Science of Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens
At the center, we create online programs to help advance research, practice, and prevention.
Focused on allied healthcare providers, more than 20 faculty and community experts provided content in 6 modules (e.g., epidemiology, prevention, translation). While focused on non-prescribers, this MOOC is incorporated into U-M Medical and Dental School coursework.
This self-paced course covers a range of firearm injury topics including firearm-related suicide, unintentional firearm injury, firearm-related community and youth violence, firearm-related intimate partner violence, school and mass shootings, and officer-involved shootings. Through lectures and interviews from leading firearm injury researchers, and activities such as, readings, discussion boards, and quizzes, learners can become familiar with the epidemiology, prevention strategies, and policy efforts related to pediatric firearm injury prevention.
Training the Next Generation
"Our internship program is unique in that mentors get to apply to the program too. This approach fosters a two-way exchange: students gain valuable research or practice experience in an injury topic area that interests them, while researchers or organizations have an opportunity to receive coveted support for their projects.”
—Sarah
Stoddard, PhD, RN, CNP, FSAHM
Trainees
32 interns
• 4 undergraduate students
• 27 masters students
• 1 doctoral student
• Representation from public health, public policy, psychology, social work, urban planning, physiology, and international studies
• 4 CDC placements
• Projects covering the following topics/focus areas: opioids and overdose, older adult falls, concussion, violence, Adverse Childhood Experiences, suicide, global injury prevention, and cross-cutting injury prevention
• Weekly summer seminars covering various injury topics, with content experts and professionals in the field sharing their career journeys, as well as professional development and skills-based sessions
Successful approaches to decrease the burden of injury require innovation from a well-trained public health workforce. Our programs engage students in coursework and internships that enhance their knowledge of injury science while exposing them to multiple disciplines, perspectives, and methodologies to address the needs of vulnerable populations.
20 graduates Certificate
• Available to both MPH and non-MPH students, the Certificate in Injury Science aims to provide its graduates with an understanding of urgent injury issues through research, education, outreach, practice, and prevention. The injury topics covered throughout the certificate program align closely with the U-M IPC’s focus areas.
• 20 students graduated with injury science certificates during this period
• (Requires 12–13 credit hours of injury-related courses and an internship or independent study)
“The Certificate in Injury Science was valuable to my MPH and my work outside of the program. It broadened my understanding of public health and helped me explore my different interests in injury and violence prevention. The certificate also brought me to a community of injury-focused faculty and peers that I still connect with today.”
Hannah Schneider Research Associate, Center for Injury Research & Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (MPH '23)
“The Injury Science certificate formed a foundational launchpad for my career as it very aptly expanded on my interests and provided me with opportunities that I could excel in. This combined with the expertise of brilliant faculty and like-minded colleagues made this experience an enriching and fulfilling one.”
Vishaka Kalra PhD Student in Clinical Psychology, Texas A&M University (MPH '22)
“The Injury Science certificate was a helpful tool that allowed me to enjoy the diversity of topics that comes with public health, while also narrowing my scope into a particular subset of concentrations. Currently, I'm using aspects of my education to not only advocate for systemic mental health and well-being preventative action through my job, but I'm also contributing my injury science perspective to a suicide prevention non-profit where I serve as a Board Member.”
Brandon Bond Mental Health & Well-Being Student Advocate, University of Michigan (MPH/MSW '22)
Educating About How Injury Affects Michigan
Injury is widespread in Michigan. We work to create resources that help policymakers, government officials, and the general public know that this is an important issue. We do this by providing county-level data on certain injury topics, and showing the role that different legislation can have on injury outcomes.
Opioid Legislative Analysis
As part of Michigan’s Overdose Data to Action program, the Injury Prevention Center partnered with MDHHS to track opioid-related legislation introduced during the 2019–2020 and 2021–2022 legislative sessions and review the legislation through three analytical lenses. This report provides an overview of findings, helps characterize the current landscape of opioid legislation in the state, and brings future legislative opportunities to light.
Educating Policymakers
Each year, we create resources to give to legislators in Washington, DC. These are general resources about the state of different injury prevention topics in Michigan. Information sheet used to educate about overdoses in Wayne County.
Working Together to Prevent Injury: Our Faculty and Staff
As injury prevention professionals, our center often discusses Haddon’s Matrix. Haddon’s Matrix is a tool for figuring out how to prevent injuries by looking at different factors and stages. It breaks things down into human, vehicle/ equipment, and environmental factors, and considers what happens before, during, and after an injury. By mapping this out, we can come up with smart ways to prevent injuries and reduce their impact. This approach helps us design effective strategies for every aspect of an injury.
While Haddon’s Matrix makes everything look organized and systematic, the reality is that injury prevention, while preventable, is also complicated. We use the Matrix to help us identify creative and comprehensive strategies to prevent injuries from every angle, but it’s our dedicated people who actually do the work. Our team takes the insights from the Matrix and applies them in real-world scenarios, navigating the complexities and challenges that come with implementing prevention measures. Their expertise, adaptability, and commitment are what truly drive our efforts to make a difference in the field of injury prevention.
“What I love about our team is that we come from a variety of professional backgrounds. In our team meetings, I'm often amazed by how someone's unique experience or unexpected idea can propel our work forward in ways I hadn't considered. As a leader, this is exactly what I want for our center: a diverse and dynamic team that generates innovative ideas and solutions.”
—Douglas Wiebe, PhD
ADMINISTRATIVE CORE
Doug Wiebe, PhD
Director, U-M Injury Prevention Center
Director, Outreach, U-M Concussion Center
Co-Director, Methods Core, U-M Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention
Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health
Nichole Burnside, MBA
Managing Director, Injury Prevention Center
Patrick Carter, MD
Co-Director, Injury Prevention Center
Director, Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention
Youth Violence Content Lead, Research Core,
University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center
Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine, U-M Medical School
Maureen Walton, MPH, PhD
Senior Associate Director, Injury Prevention Center
Research Core Director, Injury Prevention Center
Associate Director for Child Research, Addiction Center
Professor, Psychiatry, U-M Medical School
STAFF
Lisa Orrison, ABA
Terry Ebenhoeh, BBA
Jill Solomon, MPH
Taylor Hautala, MPH
Keara Sullivan, MPH
Philip Stallworth, JD
Chris Knaub, MSGH
OUTREACH AND TRANSLATION CORE
Marc Zimmerman, PhD
Peter Ehrlich, MD, MSc
Justin Heinze, PhD
Amy Kilbourne, PhD, MPH
POLICY WORKGROUP
Jen Martin, JD
Rebecca Haffajee, JD, PhD, MPH
TRAINING AND EDUCATION
Cleo Caldwell, PhD
Sarah Stoddard, PhD, RN, CNP, FSAHM
Quyen Ngo, PhD, LP
Andrew Hashikawa, MD
CONTENT LEADS
Carol Flannagan, PhD (MVC)
Amy Bohnert, PhD, MHS (Opioids)
Steve Broglio, PhD, ATC (Concussion)
Erin Bonar, PhD (Sexual Violence)
Patrick Carter, MD (Youth Violence)
Neil Alexander, MD, MS (Older Adult Falls)
Cheryl King, PhD (Suicide)
EXTERNAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Joneigh Khaldun, MD, MPH, FACEP Director and Health Officer for the City of Detroit Health Department
Steve Stack, PhD Professor, Wayne State University; Stengel Award, International Association for Suicide Prevention
Jennifer DeLaCruz
Manager, Injury & Violence Prevention Unit, Michigan Department of Health & Human Services; Lead of the Michigan Core SVIPP
Judge Linda Davis District Court Judge; Families Against Narcotics (FAN) Executive Board
Joyce Dantzler, MS, MCHES Chief, Center for Injury and Sexual Assault Prevention, Maryland Department of Health; Lead, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic Regional Network
Tom Constand President & CEO, Brain Injury Association of Michigan
Kaaren M. Williamsen, PhD Director, University of Michigan Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness
Charles Branas, PhD Director, Columbia University Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention
John Ayanian, MD, MPP Director, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, U-M
Lori Ploutz-Snyder, PhD Professor and Dean, School of Kinesiology, U-M
George Mashour, MD, PhD Executive Director, Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research
Gregory Dalack, MD Chair, Department of Psychiatry, U-M
Jim Sayer, PhD Director, U-M Transportation Research Institute
Robert Neumar, MD, PhD Professor and Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, U-M
Michael Mulholland, MD, PhD Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery, U-M
Steve Kunkel, PhD
Senior Associate Dean of Research, Medical School, U-M
John Meeker, ScD, CIH Professor, Senior Associate Dean for Research, School of Public Health, U-M
Steven Ceccio, PhD Associate Dean for Research, College of Engineering, U-M
Jack Hu, PhD Vice President for Research, U-M
