ANNUAL REPORT 2007-2008 - The University of Alabama at ...

ANNUAL REPORT 2007-2008
TRAFFIC SAFETY & INJURY CONTROL

CONTACT INFORMATION
UAB University Transportation Center
Mailing Address:
1530 3rd Avenue South
CH-19 401
Birmingham, AL 35294-2041
Delivery Address:
933 19th Street South Suite 401
Birmingham, AL 35205
Phone: 205-934-7845 • Fax: 205-975-8143
Dr. Russ Fine
rfine@uab.edu
205.934-1448
Dr. Jay Goldman
jgoldman@uab.edu
205.934.0027
Ms. Andrea Underhill
andrea.underhill@ccc.uab.edu
205.934-2862
Dr. Kathleen Bolland
kbolland@sw.ua.edu
205.348.3926
Mr. Jeffrey Foster
fosterau@uab.edu
205.996.6086
Ms. Carrie Connolly
connolly@uab.edu
205.934.2861
Ms. Despina Stavrinos
dstavrin@uab.edu
205.934.7861

I
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
1

DIRECTOR'S NOTE
As a youngster, I recall listening on countless occasions to
one of the more popular musical recordings of the era,“You
Grow Too Soon Old and Too Late Smart.” I never liked the song
but I listened. I had to. The lone Crosley radio atop my mother’s
kitchen cabinets could only receive one nearby station, so my siblings
and I were stuck. It was a long summer. To make matters
worse, it always sounded to my young ears as if the crooner was
lamenting getting “schmart” too late, and I didn’t know what that
meant … so I looked up “schmart” in the dictionary and it wasn’t
there. Then it dawned on me. (I thought “what a schmart kid for
figuring this out.”)
On Dec.7, 2008, we pause as a nation, and remember for a moment
the 67th anniversary of the deadly attack on Pearl Harbor.
Later this week – in fact, two days from when I write this – we will
mark the occasion of an attack that claimed nearly 3000 lives, of
which 403 (just over 14%) were firefighters, paramedics and New
York City and Port Authority police officers.
It’s probably fair to conclude that just about anyone reading this
piece in 2008 will forever carry with them a mind-numbing litany
of indelible images from that day. Many of the images seared into
my memory banks have to do with piece after piece of emergency
fire and rescue equipment and ribbons of blue-and-white police
cars and vans moving toward “Ground Zero” with air horns blaring
and sirens screaming creating a cacophony of blood-curdling
sounds, as scores of stunned survivors staggered and ran away in
a confused sort of cadence, seeking their escape from that which
had become, metaphorically, our personal reality television show.
All of our lives changed dramatically after 9/11. Nothing will
ever be the same; especially the way we must now think about
how emergency personnel with their life-saving skills and equipment
can be instantly notified, rapidly deployed and move efficiently
and effectively from where they are when something terrible
happens, to the site where they are needed, and then swiftly
to hospitals and trauma centers where the ultimate success of their
efforts will be measured by a rather cold, but nonetheless highly
descriptive, term: “patient outcome.”
Regretfully, most recently Hurricane Katrina proved the unthinkable
and the unimaginable: Almost five full years after 9/11
we had not learned our lesson, at least as that lesson pertained to
moving people and things under emergency, life-threatening circumstances.
What does any of this have to do with a UTC? I would respond
by stating, almost everything. We are all well aware of the
hassle, time loss and costs associated with congestion under “normal,
everyday, non-emergency situations.” Books have been written
about it. The Secretary of Transportation has cited it as one
of the most serious challenges we face. But how does congestion
threaten our survivability when the unthinkable, the unimaginable,
happens again?
In the past, “highway people” have concerned themselves – legitimately
– with constructs such as highway design, materials,
surfaces, lighting, grade, etc. In a similar vein, “EMS types” and
other first responders have concentrated on their ABCs: Airway,
Breathing and Circulation. In the past, had someone suggested
that such diverse-appearing concerns might eventually intersect,
they would likely have been dismissed. Today, however, we are
witnessing how these diverse-appearing concerns have become inextricably
linked, and how post-crash survival or other emergency
transport needs resulting from acute medical conditions (e.g. heart
attack or stroke) – or even, G-d forbid, another national calamity –
have become a function of being able to move rapidly and safely
between points A, B and C, where ‘A’ is the EMS equipment and
personnel staging area; ‘B’ is the scene of the injury-causing event;
and ‘C’ is a trauma or other appropriate care center.
A survey of MVC incident data leads easily to the conclusion
that natural or baseline performance limits of vehicle operators are
significantly reduced by traffic congestion. Efforts to understand
why and how this happens have resulted in a new awareness. And,
the UAB UTC, the nation’s first medical school-based UTC, is
responding with a full court press to this new awareness by having
carved out a fertile research and evaluation environment with lifesaving
potential and promise.
This new Center of Excellence is poised to emerge as one of the
nation’s leading research and technology transfer centers for sensible,
readily implemented solutions to some of the nation’s mostpressing
traffic safety and injury control challenges. It was not by
chance that UAB’s UTC was established in the midst of two other
highly regarded injury control-oriented research, training, education
and service settings: the UAB Injury Control Research Center
and the Southern Consortium for Injury Biomechanics at UAB.
The thinking and the planning behind it was deliberate.
Today, the UAB UTC’s research portfolio consists of a constellation
of six important, interrelated projects. All these projects
share a common, fundamental goal: making certain that when the
worst happens, the emergency personnel and the equipment they
use to save lives will get to where they need to be because we will
have developed a multi-component strategy enabling them to do
so. It’s taken slightly longer to get to here than we had hoped, but
UAB UTC’s scientists, researchers, clinicians and engineers are
now out of the blocks and well under way.
While it is true we’re all growing older by the day, this new
UTC’s progress – tackling a difficult and challenging problem –
reflects our commitment to learning the lessons history can teach
us and becoming even “schmarter” – for the future. We must.
Lives depend on it.
Russ Fine
2
2

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Director's Note........................................1
Center Theme..........................................4
Management Structure
& Principal Center Staff.......................6
Overview of Education, Research
& Technology Transfer Programs........12
Specific Accomplishments......................25
Funding Sources & Expenditures...........27
3
3

II
CENTER THEME
4
4

CENTER THEME
T
he theme for the UAB UTC is Traffic Safety and Injury Control. The Center’s Advisory Board recommended
adoption of this theme because it was judged to support: (1) the United States Department of
Transportation’s vision of safer, simpler and smarter transportation; (2) the first goal of the Federal Transit
Administration’s strategy plan of safety and security; (3) the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s
goal of addressing the most significant traffic and motor vehicle safety issues; and (4) the Federal Highway
Administration’s goal of reducing the number of highway-related fatalities and injuries.
The proposed theme is an excellent fit for the UAB
Injury Control Research Center’s (ICRC) faculty, while
complementing the ICRC’s Mission, which is:
“To help the nation achieve a significant reduction in
the rate of injuries and their resulting deaths and disabilities,
especially in the southeastern United States.”
UAB Injury Control Research Center
Mission Statement, adopted 2008
In the United States in 2005, there were more than
117,000 unintentional injury deaths in persons less than
1 year of age through older than 85 years of age. Of these
deaths, approximately 41% were motor vehicle-related.
This 41% figure increases substantially when four additional
transportation-related categories, (1) Other Land
Transport, (2) Other Transport, (3) Pedestrian and (4)
Pedal Cyclist, are added to the mix.
The UAB UTC theme and the activities conducted
in its support apply to more than one mode of transportation.
To this end, the research, education and
technology transfer activities of the UAB UTC are addressing
problems, issues and challenges associated
with private motor vehicles, commercial carriers and
transit.
Since the UAB UTC is the first – and, to our knowledge,
the only – UTC ever to be established at a School
of Medicine within a high-profile research university,
this UTC has chosen to address medically related issues
such as (1) the impact of congestion on motor vehicle
crash-related (MVC) injury outcome as a function of the
“golden hour”/first-responder access; (2) traffic management
and emergency preparedness via development of
a dynamic traffic assignment and simulation model for
incident and emergency management applications; and
(3) achieving a statistically significant reduction in morbidity
and mortality associated with MVCs occurring in
medically underserved, rural areas of a large Southern
state.
5
5

III
MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
& PRINCIPAL CENTER STAFF
6
6

MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE & PRINCIPAL CENTER STAFF
The UAB Injury Control Research Center is the
designated grantee to which the UAB UTC has been
awarded. Thus, the integrated approach to the UTC’s
management is both efficient and highly cost-effective
(see page 28). For example, the ICRC’s management
paradigm addresses all the functions and programs, research
as well as non-research. (Figure 1).
The Director and two Associate Directors comprise
the Center’s Leadership Committee. The Leadership
Committee formulates the operating policies and administrative
procedures that are used to guide UTC activities.
Leadership Responsibilities
The UAB UTC Director, Dr. Russ Fine, has global
responsibility for operations of the Center. He provides
leadership, vision and cohesiveness, and instills and nurtures
centeredness through experienced, daily, ongoing
engagement rather than simply serving as manager of an
array of loosely aggregated activities and workers. Dr.
Fine fosters relationships with intra- and extra-mural personnel,
agencies, institutions, schools, departments, divisions
and centers by delegating specific aspects of his
overall responsibilities to two Associate Directors.
The Associate Director for Research and Scientific
Oversight and Dean Emeritus of UAB's School of Engineering,
Dr. Jay Goldman, coordinates and supervises
the UTC’s research efforts and research support personnel,
provides guidance for intramural and extramural research
project selection and external review processes,
and interfaces with various UAB schools and research
entities, including the ICRC-based Southern Consortium
for Injury Biomechanics (SCIB) (http://www.uab.edu/
scib/).
The Associate Director for Administration and Finance,
Ms. Andrea Underhill, is responsible for managing
and coordinating all day-to-day operations and support
activities of the UAB UTC. This includes working
closely with Dr. Goldman on matters pertaining to UTC
visioning, policy promulgation, implementation and
monitoring, as well as nurturing and promoting relationships
with a host of extramural and intramural departments,
agencies, organizations and individuals. Ms.
Underhill is the UTC’s day-to-day interface with our
DOT-based RITA Project Officer (Figure 2).
“…one of the primary objectives given to the US DOT in creating the University Transportation
Centers was the intent to have such grants spawn additional research areas
within the academic communities that received them. UAB faculty and administration
have demonstrated considerable ability to do just that – branching into
related and vital areas of needed research not previously examined by other institutions.
…the UAB Transportation Center is one of the most unique Transportation Research
Centers in North America because it emanates from a medical school base.”
Dr. Ray Mundy, Director,
Center for Transportation Studies & Barriger Professor of Transportation,
University of Missouri – Saint Louis
7 7

FIG. 1: UAB UTC ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Dr. Carol Garrison, President
UAB School of Medicine
Dr. Robert Rich, Vice President and Dean
UAB Injury Control Research Center
Dr. Russ Fine, Director and Principal Investigator
Administrative and Support Services
Education, Outreach and Advocacy
Research and Research Training
Southern Consortium
for Injury Biomechanics
UAB University
Transportation Center
Dr. Russ Fine, Director and Principal Investigator
Associate Director for Research
and Scientific Oversight
Dr. Jay Goldman
Education and
Outreach Advisor
Dr. Kathleen Bolland
Associate Director for
Administration and Finance
Ms. Andrea Underhill
Education and
Outreach Liaison
Ms. Carrie Connolly
Transportation Research
Graduate Assistant
Ms. Despina Stavrinos
Assistant to the Associate
Director and UTC Webmaster
Mr. Jeff Foster
8
8

FIG. 2: JOB DUTIES OF DIRECTOR & ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS
Office of the Director / Principal Investigator
Dr. Russ Fine
• Provides leadership, direction, global center management, program vision, guidance and opportunity identification
• Supervises program operations, planning, implementation and quality assurance
• Assures policy promulgation and compliance
• Coordinates activities of the Advisory Board
• Promotes and nurtures relationships with governmental agencies and private-sector human service organizations
• Coordinates and promotes intramural and extramural relations with academic entities
• Directs the UAB Injury Control Research Center (UAB ICRC)
• Directs the Southern Consortium for Injury Biomechanics (SCIB)
Office of the Associate Director for
Research and Scientific Overisght
Dr. Jay Goldman
• Directs the Office of Research and Scientific
Oversight, the Research Support Services Unit
and the Oversight and Evaluation Unit
• Provides management and oversight of the
Center’s intramural, extramural and seed grant
research programs including the project selection
and external review process
• Serves as the Center’s working liaison with the
UAB School of Engineering and the Southern
Consortium for Injury Biomechanics
• Co-directs the UAB ICRC
• Co-directs the SCIB
Office of the Associate Director
for Administration and Finance
Ms. Andrea Underhill
• Directs the management and coordination of all
non-research programmatic and support activities
of the Center
• Develops budgets on Center and project level;
interfaces with intramural and extramural parties
having budget-related interests; prepares financial
reports and other documentation for the funding
agency; and reconciles financial statements and
reports
• Assists in the coordination and management of
the research project selection process, assists in
the monitoring of research project quality and
progress; maintains currency of information in the
Project Management Reporting system; plans
and executes all grant application and noncompetitive
renewal activities; coordinates
submission of final research reports
• Supervises the UTC Outreach and Education
Liaison and the UTC Webmaster; writes and
produces UTC newsletters and annual reports;
represents and speaks on behalf of the UTC at
intramural and extramural events; interfaces with
outside print and electronic media; serves as
primary interface with the UTC funding agency
and with other parties of interest
• Coordinates meetings of UTC members and
affiliates; facilitates UTC investigator and staff
activities; assists in the development and execution
of education and technology transfer activities
• Facilitates pre-activity and renewal-oriented
continuation approval from oversight boards and
regulatory agencies; ensures project-related
personnel and activities are in compliance with
IRB, HIPAA, CIRB and/or the IACUC
9
9

THE ADVISORY BOARD
The UAB UTC’s Advisory
Board plays a key role in helping
guide UTC activities, formulating
research concepts, identifying
emerging research and education
needs, and in selecting research
projects.
The Advisory Board is made
up of leaders representing a
number of high-profile entities
and organizations whose varying
missions contribute positively to
the goals and objectives of the
UAB UTC. http://www.uab.edu/
utc/Advisory Board.pdf
Current Members:
Joe Acker, EMT-P, MPH (ex officio)
Executive Director
Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical
Services System
D. Michael Andrews, JD
Attorney
Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, PC
Mark Bartlett, PE
Division Administrator
Federal Highway Administration
David Brown, PhD
Director of Development
CARE Research and Development Laboratory
John Campbell, MD
EMS Medical Director
Office of EMS & Trauma
Alabama Department of Public Health
Glen Cummings, MBA/HCM, RN
Program Director
Center for the Study of Rural Vehicular Trauma
University of South Alabama
Frank Filgo, CAE
President & CEO
Alabama Trucking Association
Bill Foisy
Director
Transportation Planning Regional Planning
Commission of Greater Birmingham
Richard Gonzalez, MD
Center for the Study of Rural Vehicular Trauma
Department of Surgery
University of South Alabama
David Hill, MBA
Executive Director
Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority
John James, BS
Alabama Emergency Management Agency
Robert Kimberly, MD
Senior Associate Dean for Research, UABSOM
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Walter Kulyk, PE
Director
Office of Mobility Innovation
Federal Transit Administration
David Meaney, PhD
Associate Director
Penn Center for Brain Injury & Repair
Professor of Bioengineering
University of Pennsylvania
Ray Mundy, PhD
Director
Center for Transportation Studies
Barriger Endowed Professor of Transportation
and Logistics
University of Missouri, St. Louis
Carol Mysinger, MED, MPA
Director, Administrative Division
Bureau of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease
Alabama Department of Public Health
Joseph A. Petrolino, MS
Vice President Heavy Vehicle R&D
Director, University Transportation Center
National Transportation Research Center, Inc
Loring Rue, MD
Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs,
UABSOM
Professor of Surgery
Chief, Section of Trauma, Burns, & Surgical
Critical Care
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Johnny Scott, MD, PhD
Assistant Dean for Minority Programs
Professor, Division of Nuclear Medicine
UABSOM
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Virginia Sisiopiku, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Dan Turner, PhD, PE
Professor, Department of Civil, Construction and
Environmental Engineering
University of Alabama
Past Director, University Transportation Center for
Alabama
Don Vaughn, PE
Deputy Director & Chief Engineer
Alabama Department of Transportation
James Walker, MPA
Director
Department of Homeland Security – Alabama
The Advisory Board’s next meeting is
scheduled for December 9, 2008.
10
10

THE UAB UTC'S PRINCIPAL STAFF
Center Director — Philip R. (Russ) Fine,
PhD, MSPH
Dr. Fine is the founding director and
principal investigator of the UAB UTC,
the UAB Injury Control Research Center
(1988) and The Southern Consortium
for Injury Biomechanics (2000).
He is the author or co-author of more
than 100 contributions to scientific literature.
Education & Outreach Advisor —
Kathleen Bolland, PhD
Dr. Bolland serves as Education
Advisor to the UAB UTC. In addition
to UTC duties, Dr. Bolland is
the Assistant Dean for Educational
Programs and Student Services in
the School of Social Work at The
University of Alabama. As a professional
staff member in the Evaluation
and Assessment Laboratory in the College of Education at
The University of Alabama, Dr. Bolland designed and conducted
evaluations for 15 years before joining the faculty in
the School of Social Work.
Associate Director for Research &
Scientific Oversight — Jay Goldman,
DSc, PE
Dr. Goldman has been closely associated
with the UAB UTC in a leadership
role since its inception. He has authored or
co-authored 75 technical publications, presented
some 100 technical presentations
and contributed to numerous monographs
and textbooks during his career. Owing to
his comprehensive knowledge and extensive experience in the
field of engineering and biomechanics, he has been a consultant
to 35 local and national organizations as well as to the United
States government.
Education & Outreach Liaison —
Carrie Connolly, MPH
Ms. Connolly has served as the UAB
UTC’s Education & Outreach Liaison
since 2007. Her responsibilities include assisting
Drs. John Waterbor and Russ Fine
with the logistics and teaching of an injury
epidemiology-related graduate course in
the School of Public Health, scheduling
Research in Progress lectures, acting as
the media and public relations contact and providing technical
support to various entities such as the Alabama Department of
Public Health.
Associate Director for Administration
& Finance — Andrea Underhill,
MS, MPH
Ms. Underhill has worked with the
UAB UTC in a leadership role since
its inception. She is near completion of
her Ph.D. in Epidemiology in the UAB
School of Public Health. She has authored
or co-authored two book chapters,
nine manuscripts and 17 presentations.
She has served as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous scientific
journals.
Assistant to the Associate Directors and
UTC Webmaster — Jeffrey Foster,
MPH
Mr. Foster has worked with the UAB
UTC since 2006. He provides day-to-day
assistance to the UAB UTC Associate Directors
and serves as Webmaster for the
UAB UTC Web site. In his Webmaster
capacity, he is responsible for identifying
and posting timely traffic safety and injury
control-related news articles, and for keeping the site fresh and
up-to-date.
11

IV
OVERVIEW OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH
& TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
12
12

EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
Many of the UAB UTC education, research and technology
transfer activities are conducted in conjunction
with the UAB ICRC and/or the SCIB, because training
and “replenishing the future’s pool of injury and highway
traffic safety professionals” is a shared objective. This
partnership allows for many activities to be performed at a
reduced overall cost.
Education
An important UTC objective is to help institutionalize
traffic safety and injury control research at UAB. To
achieve this goal, UTC and ICRC leaders are exploring
the feasibility of establishing a multi-pathway traffic safety
and injury control curriculum to provide training and
degree opportunities that address needs of current and future
workers from Alabama as well as from other states
in this region. The ICRC’s long-standing commitment to
multi-disciplinary involvement sets precedent for this sort
of educational activity.
UTC-affiliated faculty offered EPI 603 – Injury: Epidemiologic
Principles and Prevention Strategies to graduate
and professional students enrolled in UAB’s School of Public
Health. We are gratified to be able to document and report
that the course received outstanding student evaluations this
year. There were a number of transportation-related lectures
presented during this semester. Examples include:
• General Introduction and Overview (2 lectures) –
Dr. Russ Fine
• Causes and Prevention of Motor Vehicle Crashes –
Dr. Gerald McGwin
• The Biomechanical Basis of Injury – Dr. Alan
Eberhardt
• Childhood Injuries with Special Emphasis on
Transportation Related Events – Dr. Bill King
• The Importance of Expedient Care for Severe
Injuries – Dr. Jeff Kerby
• Public Policy Interventions and Motor Vehicle
Fatalities – Dr. Mike Morrisey
The EPI 603 course is an excellent introduction to injury
overall, and to transportation-related injury specifically.
Based on their experiences in this class, many former students
have been inspired to seek internships, research opportunities
and/or employment in the transportation injury
field. Two current UAB ICRC/UTC/SCIB staff members
affiliated with the Centers as a result of having taken this
course. Carrie Connolly came to the UAB ICRC as a student
intern in 2007 after taking EPI 603. She now serves as
the Education and Outreach Liaison for the UTC and is also
Program Coodinator of the ICRC's Outreach and Education
Core. Jeffrey Foster came to the ICRC in 2004 as a student
research assistant after taking EPI 603. He now provides
general support to the UTC Director and the two Associate
Directors in addition to serving as the UTC's Webmaster.
In addition to the injury course offered within the UAB
School of Public Health, the UAB UTC’s and ICRC’s affiliation
with the UAB School of Engineering has resulted
in a number of courses that have been developed, revised or
enhanced to expose engineering students at all levels to issues
relevant to traffic safety and/or injury control:
Biomedical Engineering
• BME 330. Biomechanics. Application of solid
and fluid mechanics to biomedical engineering
problems; statics, dynamics, and mechanics
of solids and fluids; stress-strain of bone;
viscoelasticity of tissues; Non-Newtonian behavior
of blood.
• BME 630, 730. Joint Mechanics. Study of joint
anatomy, joint biomechanics, joint repair, implant
evaluation.
• BME 633, 733. Biomechanics: Tissue Mechanics I.
Fundamentals of hard and soft tissue mechanics.
Introduction to biomechanical problems, with
emphasis on bone, ligament, tendon and cartilage.
• BME 637, 737. Biomechanics: Tissue Mechanics
II. Advanced topics in tissue mechanics, including
structure-function analysis and modeling of
trabecular bone, biphasic theory for articular
cartilage.
Mechanical Engineering
• ME 632/732. Computational Structural Mechanics
II. Advanced modeling and simulation techniques
in structural mechanics. Focus on computational
biomechanics to investigate the injury mechanism
of the human body exposed to high-speed
environments.
• ME 689/789. Enabling Technology Tools for
Scientists. Computational methods and tools
for simulations and modeling of mechanical and
biomedical applications. Numerical geometry,
numerical mesh generation, and scientific
visualization tools will be introduced and applied.
13 13

EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
of transportation in general and transportation and traffic
safety in particular; and (4) through her teaching experience
and her student mentoring activities, she is helping build
transportation infrastructure by inspiring students to choose
transportation-related career fields.
Research
In June, UTC-affiliated scientist Dr. John Waterbor lectured
to the UAB Minority & Health Disparities Research
Center (MHRC) Summer Enrichment Program. His lecture,
“INJURY: America's Greatest Unmet Health Need,” focused
on the epidemiology of injuries with a special emphasis on
minority issues and transportation-related injuries. The Summer
Enrichment Program is a joint venture between the University
of Alabama at Birmingham and Alabama’s Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) established
to increase the number of competent, well-trained minority
researchers and health care professionals working on health
disparities in the Deep South. The program seeks to provide
intensive learning opportunities in health disparities research
and to increase enrollment in graduate school and career
choices in health research or practice.
The UTC’s annual scholarship program is another way
to provide incentives for students to become involved with
UAB UTC transportation-related injury research activities.
The centerpiece of the student scholarship program is
the Student of the Year Award, which provides a modest
financial prize to an outstanding
graduate student doing work in an
area relevant to preventing transportation
related injuries. This year’s
recipient of the UAB UTC Scholarship
and Student of the Year Award
was Dessie Stavrinos. Ms. Stavrinos
came to the UAB UTC in 2007 as
a Graduate Research Assistant. She
is close to completing her Ph.D. in
Psychology. When not performing
UTC duties, Ms. Stavrinos conducts her own research
in child pedestrian safety, co-supervises two Honors Theses
students and serves on the UAB Graduate Student
Association. Ms. Stavrinos has authored or co-authored
two manuscripts, with four others submitted, and 15 presentations.
UAB UTC voted unanimously to honor Dessie for several
reasons: (1) her exemplary research in the area of
childhood pedestrian injury; (2) her success in securing extramural
support for this research clearly demonstrates her
commitment to the topic area; (3) her scholarly productivity
and community service make her an asset to the field
The UTC has recently implemented two innovative and
exciting projects, both addressing the problem of congestion
under different, but equally important, circumstances.
Project 1: Emergency Medical Services and Congestion
Traffic congestion, upon first consideration, would appear
to be a problem primarily of interest to those in the
fields of engineering and transportation. In the “real world,”
however, traffic congestion’s impact extends well beyond
these fields. For example, traffic congestion has important
environmental and worker productivity implications. Similarly,
congestion-related pollution has come to be associated
with certain chronic medical conditions. Moreover, of no
small consequence is the reality that traffic congestion may
have an impact on acute health problems resulting from delays
in the provision of emergency medical services (EMS).
Ambulances and other emergency personnel are not always
able to avoid traffic congestion chokepoints. When there are
even short delays in the delivery of care to a patient or delays
in transporting a patient to definitive care, there is often
an adverse impact on patient outcomes. Thus, when viewed
from a public health perspective, the relationship between
congestion and EMS reveals several important opportunities
for multi-disciplinary, translational research.
The first of these focuses on the issue of primary prevention;
that is, opportunities to prevent congestion-related EMS delays
and thereby prevent adverse patient outcomes associated
with such delays. Research has suggested that suburban areas
have longer average EMS response times than urban areas,
but the specific relationship remains unclear. To work toward
identifying opportunities for intervention, one component of
the proposed study will quantify the association between urban
sprawl and EMS response time in the United States using
national EMS data linked to a widely used county-level sprawl
index. This information should be useful to policy-makers considering
land use alternatives in rapidly growing areas of the
country.
The issue of congestion and EMS also can be viewed from
a secondary prevention perspective; that is, identifying early
opportunities for interventions to minimize congestion’s impact
on patient outcomes. In contrast to primary prevention,
which would be focused on preventing congestion-related
delays, secondary prevention assumes such delays will occur,
yet attempts to minimize their impact. To accomplish this
task, a survey of EMS providers’ professional experience with
14
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EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
congestion in terms of education/training, knowledge regarding
role of congestion on patient outcomes, congestion-related
driving behaviors and congestion-related decision-making
will be conducted. Another valuable secondary prevention
initiative seeks to evaluate a strategy to reduce the amount
of time occupants of motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) must
wait for the arrival of EMS. One strategy would be automatic
collision notification (ACN) systems such as OnStar®, which
utilize collision sensors and wireless technology to detect and
transmit information regarding the occurrence of a MVC.
ACN systems potentially could extend the “Golden Hour”
(the first sixty minutes after the occurrence of a major multisystem
trauma) by reducing the time between MVC occurrence
and EMS arrival. While debate exists regarding the association
between pre-hospital times and subsequent survival,
more rapid EMS arrival reduces time to definitive care, and
such care has been shown to reduce mortality. This study also
will evaluate whether
the integration of On-
Star® technology into
care systems, which
would make information
available earlier
to emergency workers,
may help improve patient
outcomes.
Finally, tertiary
prevention focuses
on reducing longerterm
impacts. Research
suggests that
rapid transport times matter for moderate- and high-risk
patients, so pre-transport information regarding injury severity
may help tailor pre-hospital/hospital care resources.
This in turn may result in a more informed EMS response,
thereby improving patient outcomes. To address this need,
the fourth component of the proposed study will build upon
existing post-crash injury assessment techniques by using
ACN-related occupant, collision and vehicle information
coupled with advanced regression analysis and multi-body
modeling to estimate the body region and overall injury
likelihood for MVC victims.
The results of such research will be used to aid EMS
personnel in deciding which is the most appropriate EMS
unit to respond to specific MVC events (Basic versus
Advanced Life Support); the most appropriate mode of
transportation (ground versus air ambulance); the most
appropriate medical facility (closest hospital versus regional
trauma center); and the most appropriate group
of specialized medical/surgical professionals (neurosurgeons,
orthopedists, etc.) needed.
The final component of this effort will be to translate the
findings of the research tasks into practical congestion mitigation
techniques for emergency responders, dispatchers,
traffic managers and planners. It is expected the research
program will reveal opportunities to address the congestion
problem from several different perspectives. The end
product of this task will be a set of techniques to address
congestion, along with practical guidelines for implementation
coupled with cost projections and cost- benefit specification.
This multidisciplinary, public-health approach will
yield valuable information that subsequently can be used to
address the congestion problem on multiple fronts.
Project 2: Development of a Dynamic Traffic Assignment
and Simulation Model for Incident and Emergency
Management Applications in the Birmingham
Region
Shortly after its inception, UAB UTC leadership began
working closely with Dr.
Fouad Fouad, Dr. Virginia
Sisiopiku and other
senior faculty and staff
from UAB’s School of
Engineering (SOE) to develop
a series of integrated
research projects that
would complement the
UTC’s major research effort,
Emergency Medical
Services and Congestion.
After considerable effort,
Photo | Dennis Sylvester Hurd
a comprehensive fivecomponent
project has
been developed and approved for funding. The overall effort,
known as Development of a Dynamic Traffic Assignment
and Simulation Model for Incident and Emergency Management
Applications in the Birmingham Region, is being directed
by Principal Investigators Virginia Sisiopiku and Andrew
Sullivan.
SOE research scientists posited that since traffic incidents
and natural or man-made disasters invariably disrupt
traffic flow, congestion resulting from such disruptions
will impede the ability of EMS and other first-responders
to provide timely responses. Thus, it was agreed UAB’s
effort will focus on understanding how traffic will be impacted
in a large metropolitan area in such an event, for
at least three reasons: First, to assure that traffic is managed
in a way that does not impede emergency operations;
second, so threatened or endangered populations can be
safely and efficiently evacuated and pass-through traffic
can be effectively diverted; and finally, so first responders
are able to move quickly and safely to locations where
they are needed.
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EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
PROJECT 1: EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES AND CONGESTION
Name Project Role Affiliation Email Telephone Number
McGwin, Gerald Principal Investigator UAB mcgwin@uab.edu (205) 325-8117
Crandall, Jeffrey Co-Principal Investigator University of Virginia jrc2h@virginia.edu (434) 296-7288
Trowbridge, Matthew Co-Principal Investigator University of Virginia mtrowbridge@virginia.edu (434) 924-8485
Sullivan, Andrew Co-Principal Investigator UAB asullivan@uab.edu (205) 934-8414
Fine, Philip Co-Investigator UAB rfine@uab.edu (205) 934-1448
Goldman, Jay Co-Investigator UAB jgoldman@uab.edu (205) 934-0027
Underhill, Andrea Co-Investigator UAB andrea.underhill@ccc.uab.edu (205) 934-2862
PROJECT 2: DEVELOPMENT OF A DYNAMIC TRAFFIC ASSIGNMENT AND SIMULATION MODEL FOR INCIDENT AND
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS IN THE BIRMINGHAM REGION
Name Project Role Affiliation Email Telephone Number
Sisiopiku, Virginia Principal Investigator UAB vsisiopi@uab.edu (205) 934-9912
Sullivan, Andrew Principal Investigator UAB asullivan@uab.edu (205) 934-8414
Fouad, Fouad Co-Investigator UAB ffouad@uab.edu (205) 934-8430
Hitchcock, Wilbur Co-Investigator UAB wah@uab.edu (205) 934-8430
Keskin, Burcu Co-Investigator University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa bkeskin@cba.ua.edu (205) 348-8442
Melouk, Sharif Co-Investigator University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa smelouk@cba.ua.edu (205) 348-3217
Mouskos, Kyriacos Co-Investigator City College of New York mouskos@utrc2.org (212) 650-8047
Ziliaskopoulos, Athanasios Co-Investigator University of Thessaly - Greece ziliasko@gmail.com (224) 420-7571
Barrett, Curtis Co-Investigator VISTA Transportation Group curtis.barrett@vistatransport.com (224) 420-7571
Vick, Tom Co-Investigator VISTA Transportation Group tom@vistatransport.com (224) 420-7571
Turner, Daniel Co-Investigator University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa dturner@eng.ua.edu (205) 348-9925
Sikder, Saiyid Collaborator UAB shsikder2001@yahoo.com (205) 934-8430
Brown, David Collaborator University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa brown@cs.ua.edu (205) 348-6363
Anderson, Michael Collaborator University of Alabama - Huntsville Michael.Anderson@uah.edu (256) 824-5028
Parker, Neville Collaborator City College of New York parker@utrc2.org (212) 650-8050
This new and exciting research project focuses on the
development of a comprehensive regional model of the
Birmingham region to be used as a training and evaluation
test bed. The tool will allow stakeholders to examine
the impact of, and develop response strategies to, major
incidents and emergencies with a potential to minimize
the impact of emergencies on traffic operations and the
safety of the traveling public. Special attention will be
placed on optimizing decision-making and addressing
needs of vulnerable populations including the injured
and disabled.
The benefit of the holistic preparedness planning approach
in this research is that it is likely to lead into better
management of all assets of the transportation system,
which in turn has the potential to greatly assist planners and
emergency responders in the selection and implementation
of strategies that best serve the needs of all roadway users.
UAB’s approach to this challenging problem is an exciting
multi-component research and training effort consisting
of five inter-related projects, each addressing various aspects
of incident and emergency management. The projects are:
1: Capacity Building, Education and Technology
Transfer – This activity will focus on the development and
delivery of a comprehensive research, education and training
plan aiming at advancing the knowledge and practice in
incident and emergency management.
2: Development, Calibration and Testing of the Birmingham
Prototype Model – This activity will focus on the
development, calibration and refinement of the Birmingham
test bed and is a precondition for the successful execution of
the three remaining research projects.
3: Development and Testing of a Decision Support
Tool for Optimization of EMS Response Time – This project
will develop and test an integrated simulation-optimization
technique to enhance emergency vehicle response and
transport time.
4: Evaluation of Incident and Emergency Management
Options in the Birmingham Region – This project
will develop a framework capable of integrating physical
infrastructure, transportation demand and crash data to simulate
and test hypothetical incident and emergency management
scenarios and response actions.
5: The Role of Transit in Safe Evacuation of the Elderly
and Disabled in Emergencies and Disasters – This
project will study issues related to the evacuation of individuals
without personal vehicles and models the transit evacuation
scenarios during small- and large-scale evacuations.
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EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
Other UAB Transportation-Related Activities
• Southern Consortium for Injury Biomechanics
Since 2000, the Southern Consortium for Injury Biomechanics
(SCIB) has evolved from an idea to become
a national player in injury biomechanics research. The
vision was to significantly reduce traffic fatalities and injuries
by bringing top scientists together to research ways
to improve safety.
All research initiatives share a goal of significantly
reducing vehicle crash-related injuries and deaths. Recently,
pioneering work began on a digital pediatric crash
dummy known as the "Digital Child," as well as improving
computer modeling of injuries, and a comprehensive
online pediatric biomechanics data archive that will
evaluate not only the current state of research, but also
policies affecting the automobile industry.
The multi-component research initiative known as the
Digital Child Project® (DCP) was launched by the SCIB
in 2006 with a collaborative approach at UAB ICRC by
Dr. Bharat Soni and at Wayne State University (WSU)
by Dr. Albert King, which
takes advantage of expertise
in both institutions.
IB
S O U T H E R N
CONSORTIUM
FOR INJURY
BIOMECHANICS
Finite element-based (FE)
computational models can
provide more detailed biomechanical
responses than
rigid body dummy models.
So far, very few pediatric FE
models are available, and most of such models were developed
by geometrically scaling from an adult model.
Unfortunately, scaled FE models did not consider the
anatomical difference between adult and child, and for
accurate prediction of injury mechanisms of children, the
use of an accurate child FE model is essential.
Together, UAB and WSU scientists are developing
finite element meshes of pediatric subjects at 3, 6 and
10 years of age. The project is too large in scale for any
single institution to handle alone; thus, the SCIB is well
positioned to manage this work.
Another initiative addresses the fact that when and
how pediatric injuries occur is one of the most rapidly
emerging areas of crash injury research. Little published
data exist that describe the structural, material and mechanical
properties of children as they age. Consolidation
and analysis of this information will provide information
for investigators, those involved in rulemaking and injury
criteria development, anthropomorphic dummy designers,
and those involved in designing and developing
child injury interventions. This will markedly improve
the motor vehicle safety effectiveness for the younger
population. In addition, consolidation of this information
will avoid duplication of previous research and identify
critical gaps in the data for future funding and research.
• UAB Injury Control Research Center
The transportation and traffic safety initiatives from
the ICRC have targeted individuals at different and distinct
periods across the lifespan.
For example, Dr. David Schwebel recently completed
a three-year project which led to successful development
and validation of a virtual reality environment for use in
understanding and preventing children’s pedestrian injuries.
In the virtual reality environment, a collaboration with
Digital Artefacts, LLC, users are immersed in an interactive
interface. The virtual
world is displayed on three
computer monitors and the
user is semi-immersed while
standing on a simulated curb.
INJURY CONTROL
RESEARCH CENTER
The user indicates perceived
safety by stepping off the
curb, at which point the perspective
becomes third-person.
An animated character tells the user if the crossing
was made safely.
The next research step is translating these findings
into intervention and prevention programs for pediatric
pedestrian safety. When this technology is available to
children across the United States, it likely could reduce
deaths and injuries even more than current programs.
In addition, a research project headed by Dr. Nancy
Rhodes focuses on adolescent and young adult risky driving.
In her work, a series of studies with college students
has shown that informational messages based on social
norms or empathy, as opposed to attitude change or legal
consequences, may be more effective in reducing the incidence
of youthful drinking and driving. With younger
teenaged drivers, a series of focus groups and a statewide
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EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
“On a personal level, I have enjoyed our
relationship as advocates for traffic safety,
never so much as our recent partnership
between your UAB UTC and my UTCA.
The traffic health/safety actions we are initiating
are superior to what either Center
could have launched individually.”
Dr. Daniel S. Turner, Professor
Department of Civil, Construction and
Environmental Engineering
Past Director, University Transportation
Center for Alabama
telephone survey have shown that young drivers’ experience
of positive emotion about driving is strongly related
to risk-taking behavior. This project is assessing the effectiveness
of interventions to inform parents and teens
of the risks associated with teen driving.
Researchers are working with healthy campus initiatives
to use messages shown by the study to be effective
in campus communications, as well as working
with statewide coordinators to present results of the
completed work and implement new message strategies.
The ultimate goal is to influence a statistically
significant reduction in vehicle crash injuries and fatalities
involving risky behavior or drinking on the
part of young drivers.
Technology Transfer
Research in Progress Seminars
In conjunction with the UAB Injury Control Research
Center, the University Transportation Center
for Alabama (UTCA) and the Southern Consortium
for Injury Biomechanics (SCIB), the UAB UTC has
conducted and co-sponsored a number of transportation-related
Research in Progress Seminars this past
year. These campus-wide activities provide a forum
for research scientists and allied professionals to present
their research projects’ activities, progress, problems,
provisional findings and interpretation of provisional
data, and acquire feedback, guidance and advice
from other professionals in attendance. Such persons
typically include faculty, staff, students and other interested
parties who are invited to or advised of the
seminars in a variety of ways, including email, fliers
and online announcements posted to the UTC’s Web
site. The transportation-related Research in Progress
Seminars held, thus far, in 2007-2008 include:
• Michelle Ackerman
The Impact of Feedback on Self-Rated Driving
Ability and Self-Regulation Among Older Adults
• Dr. Karlene Ball
Understanding Crash Risk Among Older Drivers
• Katherine Byington
The Effect of Cell Phone Distraction on Pediatric
Pedestrian Injury Risk
• Dr. Thomas Novack
Return to Driving Following Traumatic Brain Injury
• Dr. Nancy Rhodes
Positive Affect and Risk Perception in Youth Risky Driving
• Dr. Alan Shih
The Efforts in Creating Pediatric Computational
Models for Automobile Crash Simulations
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EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
• Drs. Bharat Soni and Alan Shih
Creating A Digital Child for Use in Simulated
Automobile Crashes
Many of these PowerPoint presentations are available
on the UTC Web site, www.uab.edu/utc.
2008 Alabama & Deep South Sections
ITE 36th Annual Meeting
The Beach Club Resort • Gulf Shores, Alabama • June 4-6, 2008
Wednesday, June 4
10:00 am - 4:00 pm REGISTRATION (Island Room Lobby)
1:00 pm - 1:05 pm WELCOME
1:05 pm - 3:00 pm TECHNICAL SESSION I
Chris Reeves, P.E. (ALSITE President), Presiding
Sponsored by: The University Transportation Center for Alabama
and the UAB University Transportation Center
Presentation: The Alabama Strategic Highway Safety Plan and Older
Drivers
Presenter: Linda Law Guin, P.E. (Safety and Technology Engineer, FHWA,
AL Division)
Presentation: Enhancing the Safety and Mobility of the Older Driver
Presenter: Dr. Karlene Ball, PhD (Professor of Psychology, UAB)
Presentation: Engineering Countermeasures for Older Drivers
Presenter: F. E. (Gene) Amparano, P.E. (Safety Engineer, FHWA Resource
Center Safety & Design Technical Services Team)
Sponsorship of Older Drivers Session of ALSITE
Annual Meeting
The Alabama Section of the Institute of Transportation
Engineers (ALSITE) and the Deep South Section of the
Institute of Transportation Engineers (DSITE) combined
forces to hold a joint annual meeting June 4-6, 2008, in
Gulf Shores, Ala. The UAB UTC, in conjunction with the
University Transportation Center for Alabama (UTCA),
sponsored the Older Drivers session of the meeting.
Linda Guin, a Safety and Technology Engineer with
the Alabama Division of FHWA, kicked off the session
with The Alabama Strategic Highway Safety Plan and
Older Drivers, an overview of the Older Drivers section
of the Alabama Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
Dr. Karlene Ball’s presentation, Enhancing the Safety
and Mobility of the Older Driver, followed. Dr. Ball
is a professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s
Department of Psychology, Director of the UAB
Center for Translational Research on Aging and Mobility,
and a UAB UTC affiliated researcher. Mr. Amparano,
a safety engineer with the FHWA Resource Center,
wrapped up the session with his presentation, Engineering
Countermeasures for Older Drivers.
ALSITE and DSITE are educational and scientific
associations of transportation professionals who are responsible
for meeting mobility and safety needs in Alabama
and the Deep South. The UAB UTC was thrilled
to assist with this meeting and we look forward to future
collaborations.
Expert Panel Discusses Factors Impacting EMS Delivery
The scientific session of the 2007 UAB UTC Advisory
Board Meeting consisted of a well-received afternoonlong
panel discussion on the impact of congestion on
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) delivery. Dr. Jeff
Kerby, a UAB trauma surgeon, Director of Clinical Research
for UAB Center for Injury Sciences and a UAB
ICRC Senior Scientist, served as the moderator for the
panel, which included:
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm BREAK
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm TECHNICAL SESSION II
Cyndi Pennington, P.E., PTOE (DSITE President), Presiding
3:30 pm - 4:00 pm Presentation: Safety Impacts of Differential Speed on Atchafalaya I-10
Presenter: Dr. Xiaoduan Sun, Ph.D., P.E. (University of Louisiana,
Lafayette)
4:00 pm - 4:30 pm Presentation: Post Katrina – Improving the Rebuilding of
Highway 90 with Advanced ITS Networks and Applications
Presenter: Jon Gifford (InLine)
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm Presentation: Modeling as a Tool for Major Transportation Projects
Presenter: Carmelo Gutierrez, PE, PTOE (Krebs, LaSalle LeMieux Consultants)
5:00 pm ADJOURN
Thursday, June 5
7:00 am - 11:00 am REGISTRATION (Island Room Lobby)
8:00 am - 8:30 am SECTION BUSINESS MEETINGS
8:30 am - 10:30 am PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SESSION
Dr. Bob Vecellio, PhD, P.E., Presiding
Summer 2008
Page 10
• Mr. David Schrank, a Texas Transportation
Institute researcher involved in the nationwide
Urban Mobility Study that tracks traffic congestion
levels in 75 urban areas;
• Dr. Sam Staley, co-author of the book A Road More
Traveled: Why the Congestion Crisis Matters More
Than You Think and What We Can Do About It;
• Mr. Les Bunte, Director of the Emergency
Services Institute at Texas A&M University;
• Dr. Gerald McGwin, Professor, Departments of
Epidemiology, Surgery, and Ophthalmology.
• Dr. Matt Trowbridge, Assistant Professor in
the Department of Emergency Medicine and the
Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University
of Virginia; and
• Dr. Jeff Crandall, Director of the Center for Applied
Biomechanics, and professor of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering and Biomedical Engineering
at the University of Virginia.
Each panelist presented on his particular area of expertise,
followed by a lively discussion with the general
audience, which included not only Advisory Board
Members but also many other transportation professionals.
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EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
Topics included
mobility in the
United States; challenges
and solutions
regarding traffic
congestion and
the efficiency of
EMS; traffic calming;
additional discussion
of the EMS
and congestion project
proposal; urban
sprawl implications for EMS; and potential improvements
in medical treatment, EMS and traffic management through
real-time injury assessment of occupants involved in crashes.
UAB UTC Activities Presented at the Centers for
Disease Control & Prevention
In August 2007, Andrea Underhill, the UAB UTC Associate
Director for Administration and Finance, made
a presentation detailing the activities of the UAB UTC
to Dr. Ileana Arias, Director of the National Center for
Injury Prevention and Control and other members of the
NCIPC Director's leadership team at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga. The presentation
described the UTC’s theme and goals, in addition
to reviewing education, technology transfer, and research
activities. NCIPC representatives were impressed with
the ICRC’s designation as a University Transportation
Center and with the UTC’s accomplishments to date.
2007-2008 Publications & Presentations
UTC-affiliated researchers have produced a number of
peer-reviewed publications and have presented research
results at national and international scientific conferences.
These include but are not limited to:
Book Chapters
• Fine PR, Foster J, Underhill AT, Harper KT. The
prevention of spinal cord injury. In: Lin VW, ed.
Spinal Cord Medicine: Principles and Practice. New
York: Demos Medical Publishing, Inc; In press.
• Kerby J, Underhill AT, Foster J, Fine P. Drugs,
alcohol, and injury prevention In: Flint L, Meredith
JW, Schwab CW, Trunkey DD, Rue L, eds.
Trauma: Contemporary Principles and Therapy.
Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins;
2008:121-132.
• Schwebel DC. Safety and childproofing. In MM
Haith & JB Benson, eds. Encyclopedia of infant
and early childhood development. San Diego, CA:
Academic Press; 2008: 43 – 54.
Manuscripts
• Kim JE, Kim Y-H, Li Z, Eberhardt AW, Soni BK.
Evaluation of traumatic brain injury using multibody
and finite element models. Math Comput
Simul. In press.
• Morrongiello BA, Schwebel DC. Gaps in
childhood injury research and prevention: What
can developmental scientists contribute? Child
Development Perspectives. In press.
• MacLennan PA, Marshall T, Griffin R, Purcell M,
McGwin G, Rue LW. Vehicle rollover risk and
electronic stability control systems. Inj Prev.
2008;14:154-8.
• McGwin G, Modjarrad K, Duma S, Rue LW.
Association between upper extremity injuries and
side airbag availability. J Trauma 2008; 64:1297-
301.
• McGwin G, Zoghby JT, Griffin R, Rue LW.
Incidence of golf cart-related injury in the United
States. J Trauma. 2008; 64:1562-6.
• McGwin G Jr, McCartt AT, Braitman KA, Owsley
C. Survey of older drivers' experiences with
Florida's mandatory vision re-screening law for
licensure. Ophthalmic Epidemiol 2008; 15:121-7.
• Schwebel DC, Gaines J, Severson J. Validation
of virtual reality as a tool to understand and
prevent child pedestrian injury. Accid Analysis and
Prevent 2008; 40: 1394-1400.
• Barton BK, Schwebel DC. A contextual
perspective on the etiology of children’s
unintentional injuries. Health Psychology Review.
2007; 1: 173-185.
• DeVivo MJ. Epidemiology of pediatric spinal cord
injury: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. J Spinal
Cord Med. 2007;30:173.
• Franklyn M, Peiris S, Huber C, Yang KH. Pediatric
material properties: A review of the human
childand animal surrogates. Crit Rev Biomed Eng.
2007; 35: 197-342.
• Jones SL, Sisiopiku VP. Safety at isolated
high-speed signalized intersections: Synthesis.
ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering.
2007;133(9):523-528.
• Quinn KP, Winkelstein BA. Cervical facet capsular
ligament yield defines the threshold for injury and
persistent joint-mediated neck pain. J Biomech.
2007;40(10):2299-306.
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EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
Presentations
“…the presence of these high impact centers
– specifically the University Transportation
Center and the SCIB – could
not be better situated geographically”
Dr. Malcolm Portera, Chancellor,
University of Alabama System
• Quinn KP, Lee KE, Ahaghotu CC, Winkelstein, BA.
Structural changes in the cervical facet capsular
ligament: potential contributions to pain following
subfailure loading. Stapp Car Crash J. 2007;
51:169-187.
• Quinney BE, Kerby JD, Rue, LW 3rd, Cross JM.
Closure of the Mississippi Firefighters Memorial
Burn Center: The implications for burn care in
Alabama. J Burn Care Res. 2007;28(6;Suppl
2):S190.
• Ratcliff JJ, Greenspan AI, Goldstein FC, Stringer
AY, Bushnik T, Hammond FM, Novack TA,
Whyte J, Wright DW. Gender and traumatic brain
injury: Do the sexes fare differently? Brain Injury
2007;21:1023-1030.
• Schwebel DC, Ball KK, Severson J, Barton BK,
Rizzo M, Viamonte SM. Individual difference
factors in risky driving among older adults. J Safety
Res. 2007;38:501-509.
• Schwebel DC, Gaines J. Pediatric unintentional
injury: Behavioral risk factors and implications for
prevention. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2007;28:245-254.
• Sisiopiku VP, Byrd JE, Chittoor A. Application
of level of service methods for the evaluation of
operations at pedestrian facilities. Journal of the
Transportation Research Board, Transportation
Research Record (TRR). 2007;2002:117-
124.
• Sisiopiku VP, Li X, Mouskos KC, Kamga C,
Barrett C, Abro AM. Dynamic traffic assignment
modeling for incident management. Journal of the
Transportation Research Board, Transportation
Research Record (TRR). 2007;1994:110-116.
• Sisiopiku VP. Application of traffic simulation
modeling for improved emergency preparedness
planning. ASCE Journal of Urban Planning.
2007;133(1):51-60.
• Anderson M, Sisiopiku VP, Jones S. Traffic signals
on oversaturated corridors. Presented at the 49th
Annual Transportation Research Forum. Fort
Worth, TX. 2008.
• Byington KW, Stavrinos D, Norris HR, Davis T,
Schwebel DC. The effect of cell phone distraction
on child pedestrian safety. Presented at the
National Conference in Child Health Psychology.
Miami Beach, FL. April 2008.
• Fanaei K, Stavrinos D, Craig L, Byington KW, Pitts
DD, Schwebel DC, The UAB Youth Safety Lab.
Epidemiology of cell phone use in 10- to 12-yearolds,
and implications for child safety. Presented
at the National Conference in Child Health
Psychology. Miami Beach, FL. April 2008.
• Frascogna N, Nichols M, Lycans S, Monroe K, King
WD. Accessing the knowledge of ATV safety for
children among Alabama pediatricians. Presented
at the Southern Society for Pediatric Research.
New Orleans, LA. February 2008.
• Gaines J, Schwebel DC, Severson J, Schikore
M, Bruse C, Vanderleest R. Validation of virtual
reality as a means to study pedestrian behavior.
Presented at the biennial conference of the
International Society for Child and Adolescent
Injury Prevention (ISCAIP). Mérida, Mexico. March
2008.
• McCallum DM, Reynolds SJ, Conaway MB, Givens
SM. Patterns of ATV use among children in rural
communities: 2002-2007. Paper presented at the
2008 meeting of the National Institute for Farm
Safety. Lancaster, PA. June 2008.
• Norris HR, Byington KW, Stavrinos D, Kongable
L, Schwebel DC. The role of temperamental
differences on pediatric pedestrian safety.
Presented at the National Conference in Child
Health Psychology. Miami Beach, FL. April 2008.
• Pitts DD, Stavrinos D, Byington KW, Fanaei K,
Schwebel DC. Epidemiology of walking in 10-to
12-year olds. Presented at the National Conference
in Child Health Psychology. Miami Beach, FL. April
2008.
• Schwebel DC, Gaines J, Kinchen S, Cuccaro
PM, Elliott MN, Franzini L, Mumford G, Parcak
S, Schuster MA. Use of satellite imagery to study
neighborhood effects on disparities in unintentional
adolescent pedestrian injury. Presented at the 9th
World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety
Promotion. Mérida, Mexico. March 2008.
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EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
• Sisiopiku VP. Development of a dynamic traffic
assignment model to evaluate lane reversal plans
for hurricane evacuations on I-65. Presented at
the 2008 SDITE Annual Meeting. Charleston, SC.
2008.
• Stavrinos D, Ackerman M, Schwebel DC,
Ball KK. Developmental differences in visual
processing skills. Presented at the Association of
Psychological Science. Chicago IL. May 2008.
• Waid JC, Sisiopiku VP, Sullivan AJ, Mouskos K,
Barrett C, Conner G. Lane reversal operations
for hurricane evacuations. Presented at the
10th International Conference on Application of
Advanced Technologies in Transportation (AATT).
Athens, GR. 2008.
• Akin D, Sisiopiku VP. Modeling interactions
between pedestrians and turning vehicles at
signalized crosswalks operating under combined
pedestrian-vehicle interval. Presented at the 86th
Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting.
Washington, DC. 2007.
• Akin D, Sisiopiku VP. Pedestrian crossing
compliance characteristics at-grade signalized
crosswalks: Case study in a downtown-university
campus environment. Presented at the 86th
Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting.
Washington, DC. 2007.
• Atay SM, Bayly PV. Magnetic resonance
elastography of the mouse brain in vivo. Presented
at the ASME 2007 Summer Bioengineering
Conference. Keystone, CO. 2007.
• Davis AL, Gaines J, Stavrinos D, Schwebel DC. A
study of walking speed at a crosswalk. Presented
at the annual meeting of the Association of
Psychological Science. Washington, DC. May
2007.
• DeVivo MJ. Epidemiology of pediatric SCI: Past,
present & future. Presented at the International
Meeting on Upper Limb in Tetraplegia.
Philadelphia, PA. September 2007. (Invited
Keynote Presentation)
• DeVivo MJ. Epidemiology of pediatric spinal cord
injury: yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Presented
at the 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the
American Spinal Injury Association. Tampa, FL.
May 2007.
• Feil SM, Gaines J, Schwebel DC. Demographic
differences in subjective perception of virtual reality
simulator realism. Presented at the annual meeting
of the American Psychological Association. San
Francisco, CA. August 2007.
• Frascogna N, Nichols M, Lycans S, Monroe
K, King WD. Accessing the knowledge of ATV
safety for children among Alabama pediatricians.
Presented at the Injury Free Coalition for Kids. Fort
Lauderdale, FL. November 2007.
• Goldman J. ICRC Transportation Related Injury
Prevention and Control Activities. Presented to the
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Atlanta, GA. August 2007.
• Li Z, Kim JE, Alonso JE, Davidson JS, Eberhardt
AW. Contralateral boundary conditions affect the
biomechanical response of the pubic symphysis
during pelvic side impacts. Presented at the
ASME 2007 Summer Bioengineering Conference.
Keystone, CO. 2007.
• McCallum DM, Reynolds SJ, Conaway MB, Givens
SM. Evaluation of a farm safety day program.
Presented at the 2007 Summer Conference of the
National Institute for Farm Safety. Penticton, BC.
June 2007.
• Morrisey MA, Grabowski DC. Beer taxes, gasoline
prices, GDL programs and effects on teen auto
fatalities. Presented at the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, Substance Abuse Policy Research
Program Annual Meeting. Amelia Island, FL.
December 2007.
• Rhodes N, Edison A. You Drink, You Drive, Then
What? The effectiveness of anti-drinking and
driving appeals. Presented at the annual meeting
of the International Communication Association.
San Francisco, CA. May 2007.
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EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
• Rhodes N. Teens’ risky driving. Presented at the
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,
Center’s for Disease Control and Prevention.
Atlanta, GA. August 2007.
• Schwebel DC. Pediatric pedestrian safety in
virtual reality. Presented at the National Center
for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Atlanta, GA.
August 2007.
• Shah CS, Hardy WN, Yang KH, Van Ee CA,
Morgan RM, Digges KH. Investigation of the
traumatic rupture of the aorta (TRA) by simulating
real-world accidents. Presented at the 2007
IRCOBI conference. 2007.
• Sisiopiku VP, Chaukar A, Hitchcock W. Transit
system operations under emergency conditions.
Presented at the Transport Chicago 2007
Conference. Chicago, IL. 2007.
• Sisiopiku VP, Li X, Mouskos KC, Kamga C,
Barrett C, Abro AM. Dynamic traffic assignment
modeling for incident management. Presented at
the 86th Transportation Research Board Annual
Meeting. Washington, DC. 2007.
• Sisiopiku VP. Comparison of traffic simulation
delay to actual delay. Presented at the Huntsville
Simulation Conference. Huntsville, AL. 2007.
• Sisiopiku VP. Dynamic traffic assignment and the
VISTA model. Presented at the Alabama Chapter
of the American Planning Associations (APA)
Annual Conference. Auburn, AL. 2007.
• Sisiopiku VP. Pedestrian crossing compliance
characteristics at-grade signalized crosswalks:
Case study in a downtown-university campus
environment. Presented at the 86th Transportation
Research Board Annual Meeting. Washington,
DC. 2007.
• Sisiopiku VP. Transit system operations under
emergency conditions. Presented at the Transport
Chicago 2007 Conference. Chicago, IL. 2007.
• Stavrinos D, Gaines J, Severson J, Schwebel
DC. Developmental trends in pedestrian safety:
How children choose traffic gaps. Presented
at the annual meeting of the Association of
Psychological Science. Washington DC. May
2007.
• Stavrinos D, Schwebel DC, Biasini F. Relations
between executive function and increased
pedestrian injury risk. Presented at the annual
meeting of the Society for Public Health
Education. Alexandria, VA. November 2007.
“The UAB Department of Civil, Construction, and
Environmental Engineering (CCEE) has developed
a strong partnership with the UAB UTC. Through a
series of complementary projects, we are investigating
ways in which state-of-the-art traffic simulation
models can be used to better manage traffic during
incidents, allow EMS responders to reduce response
and transport times, and enhance evacuation planning
for major emergencies. All of these efforts are
focuses on providing transportation managers and
emergency responders with tools that will allow
them to save lives and better mitigate the impacts
of congestion during emergencies. These are not
theoretical studies, but rather real-world applications
that will address the very real needs of transportation
mangers and emergency responders. The
efforts of the ICRC and the UAB UTC strongly support
the US Department of Transportation’s current
focus on congestion mitigation and safety. By preventing
traffic congestion during emergencies, and
managing it better when it does occur, we believe
that the impacts and costs of incidents and largescale
emergencies can be greatly reduced. Critical
to this effort will be the education and outreach programs
sponsored by the ICRC. Research of this type
is meaningless if it is not accompanied by efforts to
educate stakeholders and implement findings, and
the commitment of the ICRC and the UAB UTC
to education and outreach has been outstanding.
UAB UTC sponsored short courses, symposia, web
sites, and technology transfer events will continue
to provide educational opportunities to support US-
DOT congestion and safety goals. ….the UAB UTC
[has] a proven record of producing high quality
research to benefit traffic safety and injury prevention.
The CCEE Department remains enthusiastic
in our support of these programs and looks forward
to continuing our relationship in the coming years.”
Dr. Fouad H. Fouad, Chairman and Professor,
UAB Department of Civil, Construction,
and Environmental Engineering
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EDUCATION, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS
• Underhill A. The UAB University Transportation
Center. Presented at the National Center for
Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Atlanta, GA.
August 2007.
• Yang K, King A, Huber C. Numerical and empirical
investigations of automotive related aortic injury.
Presented at the 2007 Southern Consortium for
Injury Biomechanics Conference. Birmingham, AL.
December 2007.
UAB UTC-Affiliated Researchers Receive National
Attention
Recently, two UAB UTC-affiliated researchers received
national attention for their transportation-related
work.
Gerald McGwin, MS, PhD,
principal investigator of the UAB
UTC research project Emergency
Medical Services and Congestion,
received national and international
attention for his work revealing
golf-cart related injuries as an unappreciated
hazard.
Golf carts are a popular way
to travel within some neighborhoods,
particularly by those too young to drive a car.
Although frequently viewed as toys, golf carts pose a
significant injury risk, especially when used on public
roads. McGwin suggests that safety standards are
needed. More than 90 national news outlets carried
this story.
Michael Morrisey, PhD, Director
of UAB’s Lister Hill Center
for Health Policy and David
Grabowski, PhD, (formerly a
UAB faculty member) found that
although unwelcome, higher gas
prices do have an upside. For every
10% increase in the price of
gas, there is a 2.3% reduction in
vehicular-related fatalities. This
news story was reported by 169
news outlets nationally and internationally, including
the Associated Press and many of the major news
agencies. Drs. Morrisey and Grabowski have a long
and successful history of transportation-related policy
research, much of which has been supported by the
UAB ICRC.
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V SPECIFIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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25

SPECIFIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2007 Advisory Board Meeting
The second annual UAB UTC Advisory Board meeting
was held on Dec. 4, 2007, at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover,
Ala. The daylong event consisted of a presentation on
the UTC’s new research project and a panel
discussion featuring nationally recognized
experts on EMS and traffic congestion.
The meeting was well attended
by Advisory Board members, the general
community and transportation professionals.
The UAB UTC is proud of this effort
because it was not only a typical Advisory
Board Meeting with updates on the activities of
our center, but it was also a platform for discussion
of impediments to effective EMS delivery
and possible strategies to overcome those impediments.
The panel of experts convened by the UTC
is quite impressive, as was the discussion that followed. A few
DVD copies of the 2007 Advisory Board Meeting still remain
available; contact Andrea Underhill for more information.
Advisory Board
Meeting
The UAB University Transportation Center
December 4, 2007 at The Wynfrey Hotel, Hoover, AL
Fostering Future Transportation Professionals
As described in the Education section,
the EPI 603 course is an excellent
introduction to injury overall
and to transportation-related injury
specifically, and it has inspired many
former students to seek internships,
research opportunities and/or employment
in the transportation injury
field. Two current UTC employees,
Jeff Foster and Carrie Connolly, are
Byington
course alumni. In addition to the Injury
Epidemiology course, student
researchers are encouraged to explore
the transportation aspect of their research
through the UTC-sponsored
Research in Progress Seminars series.
Recently, Michelle Ackerman and
Katherine Byington both presented
their research at such seminars. Ms.
Ackerman and Ms. Byington are psychology
graduate students studying
cognitive processes. However, their
Ackerman
research is transportation-related, and
relevant not just to the field of psychology, but also to the
transportation field.
The UAB UTC and ICRC will continue to foster future
transportation professionals through the Injury Epidemiology
course offered in the UAB School of Public Health, as
well as through other venues as part of our efforts to help
replenish the pool of future injury and highway traffic safety
professionals.
Partnership with the University Transportation
Center for Alabama
This past May, UAB UTC Leadership, Dr. Russ
Fine, Dr. Jay Goldman and Ms. Andrea Underhill,
visited the University Transportation Center for Alabama
(UTCA) headquarters in Tuscaloosa and were
welcomed by UTCA Executive Director Dr. Jay
Lindly and Dr. Daniel Turner, Professor in the Department
of Civil, Construction, and Environmental
Engineering. The purpose of this meeting was
to identify common transportation education,
research and technology transfer projects.
One common area of interest has been the
impact of older/restricted drivers on highway
safety. This is one of the five main areas addressed
in the current Strategic Highway
Safety Plan for Alabama. During the meeting, the two
UTCs agreed to co-sponsor a seminar on older/restricted
drivers. This seminar took place at the 36th Annual Meeting
of the Alabama Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers
(ALSITE) June 4-6, 2008. Dr. Karlene Ball, Director
of the Center for Research in Applied Gerontology and UAB
UTC Senior Scientist, conducted the seminar titled Enhancing
the Safety and Mobility of the Older Driver.
The seminar on the impact of older/restricted drivers on
highway safety is an example of what will hopefully become
a series of informational seminars/workshops that will be delivered
throughout the state. These seminars/workshops could
focus on driver assessments, licensing policies, legislative options
and law enforcement intervention. The two UTCs have
agreed to explore co-presenting such a series.
The two UTCs identified and committed to several ways
to work together on educational projects in the future. For
example, the UAB UTC will be joining the UTCA's existing
program of sponsoring student attendance at the Annual
Meeting of the Transportation Research Board. Additionally,
talks between the two Centers are underway to share seminars
electronically between the two campuses.
This meeting highlighted the problems, needs, and available
resources at these two university transportation centers.
The two Centers are committed to working closely in the future
and look forward to collaboratively addressing important
transportation issues in the state.
[Adapted from an article appearing in UTCA News,
Volume 10, Number 1]
Council of University Transportation Centers
The Council of University Transportation Centers
(CUTC) was established to promote continued dialogue
among its member institutions, and to provide a forum for
the centers to interact collectively with government and industry.
Since becoming eligible, the UAB UTC has been an
active member of the CUTC. Dr. Russ Fine and/or Andrea
Underhill have attended each of the following CUTC meetings:
Winter 2006, Summer 2006, Winter 2007, Summer
2007, Winter 2008 and Summer 2008.
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VI FUNDING SOURCES & EXPENDITURES
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FUNDING SOURCES & EXPENDITURES
The information reflected in the graphics might be misinterpreted in the absence of the explanation
which follows. In this project period, all six research projects were reviewed, approved, funded and initiated.
Regretfully, certain accounting policies and practices at our institution made it impossible to formally
encumber funds until the 2008-2009 award notice was received and processed by UAB. Nonetheless, the
research teams proceeded, in good faith, having been assured that the funds would be forth-coming. Thus,
for this one-time only, the 53% figure associated with the “research” category reflects both expenditures
and encumbrances. This same problem impacted on UTC funding for our education, technology transfer
and some other associated activities. However, it did not affect our ability to successfully pursue and complete
activities in these areas because of the way the UTC is programmatically and operationally integrated
with the UAB-ICRC and the SCIB.
2007-2008 UAB UTC EXPENDITURES
Technology
Transfer 3%
Education 0.3%
Other* 13%
Unspent
10%
Administration 21%
Research 53%
The 2007-2008 expenditures for
the UAB UTC are as follows:
Research………………...........53.50%
Administration……..................20.54%
Other*………………………...12.86%
Technology Transfer……...........2.91%
Education………………......…..0.31%
Unspent…………………….....10.07%
2007-2008 UAB UTC OTHER EXPENSES
Supplies 6%
Facilities & Administrative (F&A) costs 89%
Travel 5%
Memberships
0.6%
Total 100.00%
*Other
Supplies……........................….. 5.78%
Travel…………..........................4.71%
Memberships…..........................0.63%
Indirect Costs (F&A)................88.89%
Total 100.00%
(Note: The UAB UTC is fully-funded by the USDOT and is not required to match DOT funding.)
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www.uab.edu/utc
The UAB University Transportation Center is supported in part by Grant No.
DTRT06-G-0048, U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative
Technology Administration to the University of Alabama at Birmingham.