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PPC Wins NIH Challenge Grant
The Health Policy Research Program at the Public Policy Center was one of 11 UI programs to receive a prestigious NIH Challenge Grant. The study, called First Preventive Dental Visit: Disparities in Needs, Costs + Behavioral Insights will evaluate several issues related to a Medicaid-enrolled child's first preventive dental visit. The research team includes Peter Damiano, Elizabeth Momany, Raymond Kuthy, Michael Jones, George Wehby, Natoshia Askelson and Donald Chi. Read more
PPC Researchers Featured in Odyssey
Researchers in the PPC Human Factors Research Program are featured this month in an article in the youth magazine Odyssey titled Building Better Drivers. The article discusses research done at the Center on driver distraction, technology in vehicles, and teen driver-training programs using in-car cameras. PPC reseachers have been at the forefront of study in this area, which has recently garnered national attention. Read the article
PPC Students Take Second Prize in APA Poster Contest
Adweta Joshi and Suyun Ma, both graduate research assistants in the PPC
Transportation Policy program, were awarded the second prize in a
poster contest sponsored by the American Planning Association (APA).
Their study was entitled Identifying Spatial Relationship between
Elderly Population Distribution and Crashes Related to Elderly Drivers
in Des Moines, Iowa. It used GIS technology to identify elderly
population clusters and then examine the effect of these on crash
locations involving elderly drivers. The results showed that crashes
were grouped in areas with high counts or low counts of elderly
residents; area with a random distribution of elderly citizens showed
no crash clusters.
Midwest Energy Symposium
The fifth event in the PPC's Forkenbrock Series, a symposium titled Energy and Climate Change in the Midwest: Creating Opportunities in the New Economy, took place October 16-17. The symposium gathered together state and federal policymakers with industry representatives, climate change scientists and engineers, economists, and entrepreneurs in the field of renewable energy, among others. The discussion was lively, and the exchange of ideas fruitful. Click here to read more about the symposium, access presentations, or fill out our symposium evaluation.
IHG Panel to Discuss Health Care Reform
The UI College of Public Health and the Public Policy Center are co-sponsoring a panel discussion titled Health Care Reform: A Civil Discourse. The interdisciplinary panel will include Iowa State Senator Joe Bolkcom, Professor Sheldon Kurtz from the UI College of Law, Dr. Jean Robilliard, VP for Medical Affairs at the UI, and Iowa State Representative Renee Schulte. PPC Director Peter Damiano will moderate the discussion, which will take place on Monday, October 19, from 7:00-8:30 pm in the Shambaugh Auditorium of the UI Main Library.
Human Factors Director to Take Part in Distraction Summit
Dan McGehee, Director of the Human Factors and Vehicle Safety Research
Program at the Public Policy Center has been invited by US Secretary of
Transportation, Ray LaHood, to participate in the first ever Driver
Distraction Summit. Secretary Ray LaHood has invited a
multidisciplinary group to discuss ideas to combat distracted
driving—especially the growing problem of text-messaging from behind
the wheel. Read more
New Housing Policy Research Program at the PPC
The PPC is expanding to include a new research program, this one in Housing Policy. Jerry Anthony, associate professor in the University of Iowa's Graduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning will direct the program. Research from this area will help inform policymakers on issues such as the various facets of the national foreclosure crisis. Read more
Human Factors Program to Lead Transit Bus Drug Study
The PPC has received a $414,000 grant through the Federal Transit Administration to develop and test new protocols for evaluating certain classes of prescription drugs for transit drivers. Daniel McGehee, Director of the Human Factors and Vehicle Safety Research program will lead an interdisciplinary team of UI researchers from medicine (Dr. Matt Rizzo ), pharmacy (Dr. Gary Milavetz), and engineering/NADS (Sue Ellen Salisbury, Omar Ahmad, Tim Brown) on the project. The study will develop and demonstrate a method for testing the behavioral impact of psychoactive substances on professional transit drivers. A transit bus simulator will be used for the testing at the National Advanced Driving Simulator Facility.
Public Policy Center To Co-Host Patient Centered Medical Home Symposium
The next event in the Forkenbrock Series will take place September 18th, 2009, at the Marriott in Coralville, Iowa. This symposium is a collaborative effort of the University of Iowa’s Public Policy Center Forkenbrock Series and the College of Public Health’s Hansen Award Lecture. Read More
PPC Annual Report 2008-2009
The PPC has released the report of its activities for the academic year 2008-2009. The year was a very productive one for the faculty, staff and students at the Center. Activities included 29 grants totaling $18,931,976 in research funding, and publication of 30 journal articles, monographs, research abstracts, conference proceedings papers, and book chapters. The Center added two new research programs—Crime and Justice, and Housing Policy Research—and was chosen to be part of the new university sustainability “cluster hiring.” Read more
PPC Director Part of Health Care Reform Panel
Pete Damiano, Director of the Public Policy Center, participated in a health care reform forum last night conducted by the Cedar Rapids Gazette and KCRG television. Other presenters included: Tim Charles, Mercy Medical Center President/CEO, Ted Townsend, St. Luke’s President/CEO, Dr. James Levett, PCI’s chief medical officer, Dave VerWoert, benefits/insurance planner, True North Companies, Allen Witt, Hall and Hall Engineers, Hiawatha, small business representative. Watch the event on the KCRG website at: http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/52396347.html?video=pop&t=a or read more in the Gazette.
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