New Co-Directors Named at Penn Injury Science Center

LDI Senior Fellows Catherine McDonald and Zachary Meisel Take the Helm

December 5, 2022

By:

Hoag Levins

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Penn School of Nursing Associate Professor Catherine McDonald and Perelman School of Medicine Professor Zachary Meisel have been named the new co-directors of the Penn Injury Science Center (PISC). Both are LDI Senior Fellows.

The 25-year-old PISC is one in a network of nine Injury Control Research Centers (ICRCs) established and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with academic institutions across the country. The multidisciplinary research centers focus on the causes, outcomes, and prevention of injuries and violence. They routinely collaborate with their state and local communities to provide technical assistance and disseminate their research findings while running extensive academic training programs designed to develop the next generation of public health professionals.

McDonald, PhD, RN, is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Family and Community Health at Penn Nursing and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine. She is a pediatric nurse scientist with a focused program of research aimed at promoting health and reducing injury in youth.

Meisel, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Emergency Medicine, Director of the Center for Emergency Care Policy and Research at the Perelman School, and Director of the Policy and Dissemination Core of the Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorders, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH). He is an emergency physician whose research has been focused on pain treatment and opioid prescriptions, narrative communication, guideline adherence, opioid use disorder, patient safety, emergency medical services, and patient centered comparative effectiveness research.

PISC operations include 85 scholars, 85 doctoral, post-doctoral, and graduate trainees, and 22 executive and advisory board members. Its research focus covers a broad range of issues including concussion and traumatic brain injury, healing and recovery, falls, opioid use, road traffic injuries, trauma systems, firearm injuries, physical and social environments, and related policy.

Some of its current research projects involve:

Opioid Overdose—Towards Making “Warm Handoff” Pathways to Treatment the Default Option for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Presenting in the Emergency Departments
Motor Vehicle Crashes—Space -Time Characteristics of Adolescents’ Cell Phone Use While Driving
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)—The Contribution of ACEs and Neighborhood Exposures to Health Outcomes Experienced by Seriously Injured Black Men
Falls—Using Innovative Technology to Facilitate Fall Prevention for Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)—Investigating the Effects of Concussion in Women on Postpartum Depression.