Marizen Ramirez, PhD, MPH

Associate Professor, Division of Environmental Health Sciences

Marizen Ramirez

Contact Info

mramirez@umn.edu

Office Phone 612-624-3143

Office Address:
1210 Mayo

Mailing Address:
420 Delaware St. SE
MMC 807
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Associate Professor, Division of Environmental Health Sciences


PhD, Epidemiology, University of California-Los Angeles

MPH, Epidemiology, University of California-Los Angeles

BA, Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California-Los Angeles

Summary

Injuries and violence are the leading causes of death for people aged 1-44. To address this pressing issue, I study some of the most prevalent injury and violence problems of today to identify effective and evidence-based solutions to prevent trauma and its adverse impacts. My work has a special focus on society’s most vulnerable population at risk for violence (especially bullying) and injuries:  children, persons with disabilities, agricultural workers, minorities, and rural populations.  

Expertise

Injury and violence prevention and control; injury and violence epidemiology; pediatric injuries; adverse child experiences; disaster preparedness; traffic injuries; agricultural injuries; intervention development, implementation and evaluation; policy evaluation; mixed methods. 

Awards & Recognition

  • Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program, National Institutes of Health, 2010-2016
  • Scientific Abstract of the Year, American Public Health Association Law Section, 2014
  • Delta Omega Public Health Honorary Society, 1998

Research

Research Methods/Techniques

I am epidemiologist by training with experience in mixed methods and intervention evaluation. I have evaluated a number of public health prevention and intervention strategies: policies to prevent and respond to face-to-face and cyberbullying; school- and hospital-based programs of psychological first aid and trauma-informed care to reduce the impacts of trauma household disaster preparedness programs; and policies and parent-based programs to prevent roadway traffic crashes involving agricultural workers and youth. In my work, I am committed to using methodologies that advance the field. I have adopted data collection technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and smart phone data collection to collect objective measures, as well as patient- and community-engaged strategies to build community-research partnerships.

Research Funding Grants

  • 8/12–7/17, CDC/NCIPC, "The University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center: Implementation & Outcome Evaluation of Iowa's Anti-bullying Legislation," Principal Investigator
  • 2/14–10/17, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, "Evaluation of Parent-Based Interventions to Support Children after Traumatic Injury," Principal Investigator
  • 1/14–12/17, U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, "Contents and Contexts of Cyber Bullying: An Epidemiologic Study Using Electronic Detection and Social Network Analysis," Principal Investigator

Publications

See a full list of my publications on PubMed

Select Publications

  • Ramirez M, Ten Eyck P, Peek-Asa C, Onwuachi-Willig A, Cavanaugh JE, "Evaluation of Iowa's Anti-Bullying Law," Injury Epidemiology, 2016
  • Young R, Tully M, Ramirez M, "School Administrator Perceptions of Cyberbullying Facilitators and Barriers to Preventative Action: A Qualitative Study," Health & Education Behavior, October 2016
  • Ramirez M, Bedford R, Wu H, Harland K, Cavanaugh JE, Peek-Asa C, "Lighting and Marking Policies are Associated with Reduced Farm Equipment-Related Crash Rates: A Policy Analysis of Nine Midwestern US States," Occupational & Environmental Medicine, September 2016
  •  Hatzenbuehler ML, Schwab-Reese L, Ranapurwala SI, Hertz MF, Ramirez MR. “Associations between antibullying policies and bullying in 25 states.” JAMA Pediatrics, October 2015. 
  • Ramirez M, Toussaint M, Woods-Jaeger B, Harland K, Wetjen K, Wilgenbusch T, Pitcher G, Jennissen C. “Link for injured kids: a patient-centered program of psychological first aid after trauma.” Pediatric Emergency Care, November 2015

Teaching

Courses

  • PubH 3123/6123, Violence Prevention and Control: Theory, Research, and Application

Community Engagement

Collaborations with other researchers and community partners has been instrumental to building my areas of research. I work with school districts, children's hospitals, and nonprofits to build and continue multidisciplinary research and implementation.