SOPHE / CDC Student Fellowship

SOPHE / CDC Student Fellowship in Injury Prevention

The SOPHE / CDC Student Fellowship in Injury Prevention is funded by the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.  The fellowship is designed to recognize, assist and train students working on research or practice-based projects in either unintentional injury prevention or violence prevention from the perspective of health education or the behavioral sciences.  For one year, selected "SOPHE / CDC Fellows in Injury Prevention" receive a stipend, one-year student membership to National SOPHE, and complementary registration at the SOPHE Annual Meeting, where they have an opportunity to display poster presentations on their projects.

From the mouths of experience…

"What attracted you to the SOPHE / CDC Student Fellowship opportunity?"

This fellowship offers an important opportunity for students interested in injury and violence research. Although there are many agencies interested in funding studies of adolescent substance use behavior, the support for youth violence research is much more limited, especially at the pre-doctoral level.
—Kate Karriker-Jaffe, doctoral candidate, 2005-2006 Fellowship Recipient

This fellowship is the only one I've seen that emphasizes behavioral approaches to injury prevention. It's a great opportunity for behavioral science students to secure support for their research project.
—Michelle Price, doctoral candidate, 2005-2006 Fellowship Recipient

The professional recognition of my research project. In addition, it is also wonderful to have the opportunity to meet with other students who share the similar research interests.
—Ying Li, doctoral candidate, 2005-2006 Fellowship Recipient

My Major Professor pointed it out to me. I thought it would be a good opportunity to reach a larger audience with my research on suicide, as we tend to mainly present to clinical psychology audiences.
—Tracey Witte, doctoral student, 2005-2006 Fellowship Recipient

The Fellowship Applications are due September 15th, 2007.  View the current application and fellowship requirements.

Meet this year's SOPHE / CDC Student Fellowship Recipients:

• Katherine Karriker-Jaffe, M.S.
  

  Katherine (Kate) Karriker-Jaffe is a doctoral candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Department of Health Behavior and Health Education. She works on a longitudinal research study of adolescent health risk behaviors and is using data from that study for her dissertation research on neighborhood and family effects on youth violence trajectories. Her fellowship project encompasses one of her three dissertation studies (investigating whether neighborhood effects on youth violence are moderated by family factors) and also complements the dissertation project by expanding the research to include a study of individual-level mediators of neighborhood effects. She plans to defend her dissertation by August 2006 and to move to the San Francisco Bay Area to continue her career in applied adolescent health research.

  "The fellowship provides a unique opportunity for students interested in injury and violence to be recognized for integrating behavioral science theory into research and practical applications. Even though it was short, writing the proposal really helped me to solidify my ideas, and it was great practice in the art of grant-writing. Having support to conduct this research and to write up the results also is invaluable, because it really allows me to focus on this project."
  


• Ying Li, M.Ed.
  

  Born and raised in China, Ying Li began her undergraduate degree at Zhejiang College of Traditional Medicine in the fall of 1993. She graduated with honors in 1998, receiving a Bachelor of Medicine in Acupuncture and Chinese Massage. Right after graduation, she entered the graduate program at Zhejiang University to pursue a master's in biology and earned this degree in the summer of 2001. In the fall of the same year, Ying came to the United States and enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Cincinnati. In the summer of 2002, she left the University of Cincinnati with a Master of Education in community health education and entered the Ph.D program in the Department of Health Education and Behavior at the University of Florida. Ying will be granted a Doctor of Philosophy in health and human performance with an emphasis in health behavior and a minor in statistics through the College of Health and Human Performance, in summer of 2006.

  "Thanks to the fellowship, I am able to carry out the project. The experience associated with conducting the research gave me the chance to put what I have learned into practice. That experience also gives me the opportunity to learn from mistakes. All of these are very beneficial to my future research."
  


• Michelle A. Price, M.Ed
  

  Michelle is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Texas School of Public Health, Division of Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences. She has completed all degree requirements except for her dissertation. Her dissertation, titled "The Texas Driver Responsibility Program: A Preliminary Analysis of the Impact on Impaired Driving and Trauma System Funding" focuses on the nexus between behavioral theory regarding alcohol and driving and traffic safety policy. Michelle has worked in the field of behavioral research for more than fifteen years and has an interest in alcohol and injury, policy analysis, and trauma systems. She is currently a faculty associate in the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

  "Applying for and receiving this fellowship was a real catalyst for getting my dissertation work going. I began talking with my committee in very concrete terms about my research interests and how they were responsive to the call for applications. It has also helped me set a realistic timeline for completing both the fellowship and my dissertation."
  


• Tracey K. Witte, B.S.
  

  Tracey's research focus is the multilevel study of suicidal behavior (i.e., suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide completion), including correlates, risk factors, differences across the life span and across ethnic groups, and preventative strategies. She is currently working toward a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Florida State University. Recently, Tracey defended her Master's Thesis, the title being, "A Test of Joiner's Theory: The Relationship Between Pain Exposure, Thwarted Belongingness, and Suicide Completion." Upon completion of her Ph.D., her goal is to obtain a tenure-track position at a research university, where she will continue her research on suicide and its correlates.

  "I think this [fellowship] will/has advanced my career in that it has exposed me to the literature of a different field, and it is shown me how I can make my work more applicable. I think it's definitely worth applying for the award. It's a great opportunity that everyone should take advantage of."