Our department offers many opportunities for students interested in emergency medicine research. Below are some examples of research questions available for student research. Interested students can contact any of the emergency medicine department research team members listed for more information. All students should then contact Gerene Denning, PhD the Director of Research to arrange for placement. See complete listing of research projects for students.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Denning, Gerene PhD
Buresh, Christopher MD
Van Heukelom, Jon MD

• Determine the effects of neuroprotective agents on cognitive function and extent of brain damage in a model of traumatic brain injury
• Test the pupillometer in the emergency care setting to determine whether it provides a sensitive measure of brain injury and severity

ATV-related injury surveillance and prevention

Jennissen, Charles MD
Denning, Gerene PhD
Buresh, Christopher MD

• Perform retrospective studies using an integrated database to identify risk factors for ATV-related crashes and injuries in Iowa
• Perform retrospective studies using a database of press clippings from a nine-state region to identify risk factors for ATV-related crashes
• Perform community-based research to provide and evaluate ATV safety education programs for students from rural communities
• Develop ATV safety screening and educational materials for use by primary care providers in rural communities to provide anticipatory guidance to the families they serve
• Evaluate safety information and guidance provided to parents by ATV dealers and sales representatives
• Use engineering simulator-based approaches to understand the mechanisms of ATV crashes and to develop changes in vehicles designed to reduce the risk of ATV crashes

Alcohol-related injury surveillance and prevention programs

Takacs, Michael MD
House, Hans MD
Denning, Gerene PhD

• Perform retrospective studies on the incidence and severity of alcohol-related adverse outcomes among UI students
• Develop and pilot a prospective brief intervention in the emergency department designed to reduce alcohol-related adverse outcomes among UI students

Improving the quality and ethics of patient care

Graber, Mark MD
Ahmed, Azeem MD

• Assessing patient knowledge and satisfaction based on an explicit permission to ask questions
• Determining the basis for physician recommended follow-up
• Deriving a functional working definition of the drug-seeking patient
• Does weight-based vancomycin dosing in the ED affect hospital length of stay?

Promoting evidence-based clinical practice

Faine, Brett PharmD
Nugent, Andrew MD
Bell, Gregory
Jennissen, Charles MD

• Improved multivitamin treatment of patients presenting for alcohol-related reasons
• Comparing Macrobid versus ciprofloxacin in uncomplicated urinary tract infections
• Comparing nasal versus intramuscular ketamine as sedation in children with lacerations
• Comparing droperidol versus metaclopramide for migraine pain management

Other Projects

• EMS Care and Burn Centers
• USCOM as a Potential Diagnostic Tool
• Carbon Monoxide and Cooking Habits in Rural Haiti
• On-Demand Emergency Education (ODEE)
• Animal Vaccination-Related Human Needlestick Complications
• A Multi-component Intervention to Prevent Falls in the Elderly