The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded a $4.2 million grant over five years to the University of Iowa to continue the Injury Prevention Research Center (IPRC) in the College of Public Health.

The grant will help Iowa researchers identify risks and factors that present opportunities for injury and violence prevention strategies, and develop and evaluate interventions and methods to turn those interventions into public action.

The center, directed by Corinne Peek-Asa, professor of occupational and environmental health, engages in coordinated efforts across campus and with other centers across the country to conduct research and provide expert knowledge to inform and strengthen injury and violence prevention efforts. Among the Iowa IPRC’s recent research findings is that talking to teenage drivers is an effective tool to increase safe driving, that farmers still take their lives at an alarmingly high rate, and that more stringent state policies regarding vehicle lighting can reduce crashes involving farm vehicles.

The Iowa IPRC has received continuous funding from the CDC since 1991. Centers at eight other universities also received funding.