Training and Education
Several training and educational activities occur in CCISP and collaboratively across the university and beyond that augment and further advance the goals of the training and education core which are to:
Increase the number of faculty and trainees at Columbia conducting quality cross-disciplinary injury epidemiology and prevention research;
Develop and implement a post-doctoral training program that increases the pipeline of early career investigators in the injury field;
Expand the amount of cross-disciplinary training in injury at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and other Columbia schools; and
Train and provide technical assistance in injury research to those outside of Columbia at city, state, and national levels.
Drs. Thelma Mielenz, PhD and Danielle Laraque-Arena, MD direct the Training and Education Core.
Injury and violence related courses are taught widely across the University. In addition, CCISP faculty raise awareness of injury and violence across Columbia and at other universities by offering guest lectures on injury and violence topics in courses whose content is not injury focused—such as Public Health Surveillance, Child Health, Global Health, Chronic Disease, Aging and others. CCISP guided support is available to any department for the development, implementation, and evaluation of injury and violence related courses. Courses based in the Department of Epidemiology are reviewed to ensure that innovative methods are being taught and applied each semester and that injury prevention students in the courses receive full support and mentorship.
Injury and Violence Courses
CCISP seminars provide a forum for networking between students, faculty and partners. The CCISP unit seminars are required for Injury and Violence Certificate students and confer course credit for registered students. These meetings are held once a month during the Fall and Spring semesters and are open to other researchers and partners. The works-in-progress meetings focus on the bidirectional exchange of knowledge and information between injury scientists and practitioners.
Injury and Violence Seminars
MPH Certificate in Injury and Violence
The MPH Certificate in Injury and Violence Prevention is open to MPH students in all six MSPH departments. It provides advanced training in key IVP theoretical approaches, determinants, and injury methods and develops critical thinking and analytic skills. Students complete required certificate courses while being afforded flexibility to pursue electives that satisfy their specific analytical/methodological, programmatic and/or research focused interests. In addition, students in methodology certificates such as Health Policy and Practice, Advanced Epidemiology, Applied Biostatistics and Comparative Effectiveness Outcomes Research often take IVP courses, complete IVP practica and IVP theses. Dr. Joyce Pressley serves as the IVP Certificate Faculty Lead.
MPH Student Practica and Theses
CCISP scientists work with MPH students to develop practicum opportunities and thesis/capstone projects that address unintentional or intentional injury topics. The practicum is a minimum of 8 weeks and can be completed in a university, a NGO, a community partner, a city, state or federal agency or other relevant site. The thesis/capstone is a mentored research or programmatic project depending on the student's home department. Opportunities are available in road safety, opioid overdose, suicide, ACEs, violence, equity, disparities and other topics relevant to injury and violence.
Master of Public Health Students
Doctoral Students and Dissertations
Students interested in injury and violence prevention elect to either pursue PhD or DrPH degrees, and most students are fully or nearly fully funded in terms of tuition and stipends from a variety of sources at the School, extramural grants, industry, and private foundations.
Injury Research Postdoctoral Fellows
Along with direct resources from CCISP, postdoctoral fellows interested in our injury postdoctoral program and existing, but related postdoctoral programs will have the opportunity to maximize the use of shared resources, thus creating new scientific synergies, programmatic efficiencies, and ultimately greater numbers of postdoctoral fellows affiliated with CCISP who are interested in becoming independent injury scientists and launching their own injury and violence research lines of inquiry.
Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Students
Community Education Core Resource (CERC)
The CERC is within Columbia’s Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and fosters research and training conducted in partnership with community stakeholders to better inform the application of scientific findings to clinical and community settings. The CERC supports community-engaged research between CCISP researchers, multi-sector stakeholders, and the community at-large.
Injury Science Laboratory
The Injury Science Laboratory is located in dedicated space provided for the Center by the Department of Epidemiology in Room 516 of the Mailman School of Public Health. It is available for faculty and students throughout Columbia working on injury prevention.
Core faculty and a dedicated graduate research assistant facilitate the use of available national, state, and local data for student theses, dissertations, and course projects. Databases are available in-house with appropriate permissions for injury research.
Educational Resources
Injury Awards
The CCISP has established two annual awards: (1) the Susan P. Baker Award in Injury Epidemiology is given to a graduating master’s student for outstanding performance in thesis research in the area of injury epidemiology and prevention; and (2) the William Haddon Jr. Award in Injury Epidemiology is given to a graduating doctoral student for outstanding contributions to injury epidemiology and prevention through dissertation research.
Episummer@Columbia
Intensive short courses are offered either in-person at the Mailman School of Public Health or in online distance- learning formats. The episummer@columbia Injury Course is held in conjunction with the ICRC annual conference each May or June.
Other Activities
The NextGen Public Health Scholars Program is a unique partnership of public and private institutions of higher education that enthusiastically welcomes and prepares the next generation of college students from diverse backgrounds to enter much-needed careers in public health and epidemiology. Founded in 2021, the Program joins Hostos Community College with the Columbia University School of General Studies and the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology to provide participants with the educational and professional background necessary for leadership and front-line roles in local, state, and national health departments, medical systems, and community health programs. While completing a 2-year program at Hostos Community College, candidate scholars are eligible to jointly apply to the Columbia School of General Studies to complete a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in the ensuing 2 years, followed by a 2-year Master of Public Health (MPH) or Master of Science (MS) in the Department of Epidemiology at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health
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Hawa Antonet Abraham is originally from Freetown, Sierra Leone, a small country located in the lush green coast of West Africa. She lived as a refugee due to 10 years of violence and brutal conflict in her home country, a most difficult experience which she believes shaped her young mind to aim for a profession that can support people in dire need. While pursuing a nursing degree at Cuttington University in Liberia, Hawa moved to the U.S. Following the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, and the global coronavirus pandemic, her focus shifted to public health as she witnessed how immigrant communities were missing out on critical information to prevent virus transmission and how misinformation was preventing them from accessing health care. She realized that timely information about basic hygiene, healthy choices, good nutrition, and balanced diets can go a long way to prevent ailments and deaths, which led her to enroll at Hostos Community College to pursue her Associate Degree in Community Health.
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originally from Venezuela and had almost completed three years of medical school at the University of the Andes, when in November 2020, she and her family decided to move to the U.S., looking for better opportunities and a safe place to live. She was always interested in the science field, and as a medical student, was involved in scientific associations and
research clubs, which helped to improve her research skills. In her first year living in New York, she enrolled at Hostos Community College to pursue a career in nursing and continued conducting
research with her mentor from Venezuela. She published her first research paper titled, Complications of COVID-19 Associated with Obesity, earlier this year. During her journey at Hostos, María has had many incredible opportunities, like being accepted into the American Heart Association 2022 Hispanic Serving Institution Scholars Program, and will be working with a mentor on a research project, which will help further advance her career development in public health. As a NextGen Public Health Scholar, María aspires to acquire more knowledge of communities' health issues, have a better understanding of the health system, and learn how to implement better strategies to address health disparities among different ethnicities.
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born and raised in Venezuela, where she completed two years of medical studies at the University of Andes. As a medical student, she discovered her passion for health-related research by participating in research activities that allowed her to publish papers and ignited her desire to be part of the research community that works hard to improve the health care system. However, in 2020 she moved to New York City, along with her family, looking for a better future and opportunities. She started her journey at Hostos Community College in 2021 to complete her Associate Degree in Nursing, and since then, has received many opportunities. In addition to being selected as a NextGen Public Health Scholar, Andrea was recently selected to be part of the American Heart Association 2022 Hispanic Serving Institution Scholars Program and will work as an intern at the Bronx Community Health Network, Inc.
