Summer Research Opportunities
Department Executive Officers
- Biostatistics—Kathryn Chaloner, Ph.D.
- Community and Behavioral Health—Edith A. Parker, Dr.P.H.
- Epidemiology—James Torner, Ph.D.
- Health Management and Policy—Keith Mueller, Ph.D.
- Occupational and Environmental Health—Peter Thorne, M.S., Ph.D.
Areas of Research Interest
Shelly Campo, Center for Health Communication and Social Marketing (HCSM), Community and Behavioral Health and Communication Studies
Campo is the director of the Center for Health Communication and Social Marketing (HCSM) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health and the Department of Communication Studies. The mission of the HCSM is to promote innovative, theory- and data-driven communication research to address today’s public health challenges through participation in interdisciplinary, collaborative, community-based projects. The center is currently involved in several health communication interventions designed to decrease unintended pregnancies in Iowa. These include leading the development and implementation of a pair of social marketing campaigns for college and non-college audiences, co-directing the creation and airing of a pair of radio serial dramas for African American and Latina women, and assisting with an effort to improve family planning services at Iowa pharmacies. Students interested in gaining experience in any of the following are encouraged to apply: (1) qualitative data collection and analysis (interviews,focus groups, content analysis), (2) quantitative data collection (surveys,media monitoring, content analysis), (3) evaluation design (formative, process and outcome evaluation; traditional and new web-based methods).Students may also propose independent research collaborations with the Center, especially if the projects have the potential to result in conference presentations or publications. shelly-campo@uiowa.edu
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. 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
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 high-risk dogs and humans in the US. - Description of planned objectives and activities to meet the goal(s):
Using online databases and interviews with dog owners and caretakers, determine the lineages, environment and exposures of Leishmania infected dogs.
Using interviews with masters of foxhounds and huntsmen, determine the environment and exposures of people working with Leishmania infected dogs.
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
Tara Smith, Assistant Professor and Interim Director of The University of Iowa's Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases
Dr. Smith is trained in bacterial pathogenesis and molecular epidemiology of infectious disease. Her research focuses on the molecular epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus, examining rural exposures that put one at risk for colonization and infection with this pathogen. Other ongoing and past work has examined Streptococcus species, including Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus); Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococcus), and Streptococcus suis.
Students working with Dr. Smith have the potential to carry out both laboratory-based research examining the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of many of the bacterial pathogens mentioned above, as well as the opportunity to obtain experience in field work, collecting bacterial samples from both humans and animals. An overview of ongoing projects in Dr. Smith’s lab can be found on the Center’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/142968592442476/
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.
Kathryn Chaloner, Ph.D. |
Edith Parker, Dr.P.H. |
|
James Torner, Ph.D. |
Keith J. Mueller , Ph.D. |
|
Peter Thorne, M.S., Ph.D. |
|