The UAB UTC leadership is happy to announce that Russell Griffin, MPH is our 2008-2009 Student of the Year. As Student of the Year, Russell is entitled to a $1,000 cash award and participated in the awards ceremony held in Washington, DC honoring Students of the Year from UTCs across the country.

Russell is a 3rd year epidemiology doctoral student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He received his BS in biology and his MPH in epidemiology both from UAB. A broader interest in trauma epidemiology led to his transportation-related work.

Russell is currently working with the UAB UTC research project "EMS and Congestion" where he assists in the development, design and distribution of surveys to document EMS service providers' experience with congestion. When the survey is complete, Russell will assist in the analysis and reporting of this data. He is hopeful that he will be able to use the data from this study in his dissertation project.

Russell has a number of peer-reviewed publications exploring a wide variety of transportation issues such as injury risk associated with second-generation airbags compared to first-generation airbags; vehicle rollover and electronic stability control systems; and the impact of vision screening laws on older driver fatality rates. In addition, he has co-authored a study on the impact of gas prices on injury and mortality rates among occupants of different vehicle types that is currently under review for publication. Russell also has peer-reviewed publications examining golf cart injuries, shopping cart injuries, scooter injuries, complications of burn injury, consumer product related injuries, improved techniques for abdominal wound closure, the association between mortality and age of transfused blood, and the impact of a regional trauma system on mortality distribution.

When not performing research, Russell enjoys teaching future epidemiologists. He has served as a teaching assistant (TA) for the master's level introductory epidemiology class for the past three years, and as the lead TA for this class for the past two years. In his role as TA, Russell provides assistance to the students in the classroom setting and provides instruction during the laboratory section of the class. As lead TA, Russell has the added responsibility of assisting in the design of the laboratory section of the class. After graduation, Russell hopes to continue his career in academia both performing transportation related research and training future transportation researchers and professionals.

Russell's broad research interests bring a fresh perspective to the transportation field. Through his numerous peer-reviewed publications so early in his career, he has already demonstrated his dedication to the transportation field as well as his effectiveness as a researcher and a communicator. His passion for teaching and interactions with students provide him the opportunity to expose countless future epidemiologists to transportation related topics and increase the number of transportation professionals.

Please join us in congratulating Russell on his contributions to the transportation field and on his work training future transportation researchers and professionals.

The UAB-UTC is pleased to announce that Despina Stavrinos has been selected as a SPP/CDC Injury Prevention Fellow by APA Division 54 and CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Despina is the first rescipient of the SPP/CDC Injury Prevention Student Research Award competition for her manuscript entitled: “The Effect of Cellphone Distraction on Pediatric Pedestrian Injury Risk .”

On behalf of the leadership, staff, and all the investigators associated with the UAB-UTC......... CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!