Marizen Ramirez, PhD, MPH

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 in the home, workplace and community. My work has a special focus on society’s most vulnerable populations at risk for violence (especially bullying) and injuries: children; people with disabilities; occupational injuries (especially agricultural workers); Black, Indigenous, people of color, and other stigmatized communities; and rural populations.

• 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

I currently direct the Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety, and within the center, also serve as program director of the Occupational Injury Prevention training program. The center is focused on training the future generation of occupational health professionals. My own area of research is on injury and violence prevention in marginalized populations from the community, home and work environments. Using mixed methods and intervention evaluation methods, I have developed and 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 research, I am committed to using epidemiological methods that advance the field as well as patient- and community-engaged strategies to build community-research partnerships.

• 3/2021 – 2/2023, Office of Academic Clinical Affairs, University of Minnesota, School-to-prison pipeline to firearm violence: risk factors and systems, Multiple PI
• 07/2020 – 06/2025, CDC/NIOSH, Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety Training Grant, Center Director, PI
• 04/2019 – 12/2023, NIH-NIMHD, Link for Equity: a program to reduce racial/ethnic violence disparities, Multiple PI
• 09/2016 – 09/2022, U Iowa (Prime)/CDC-NIOSH, Surveillance of injuries and risk factors using Workers' Compensation data, Principal Investigator
• 09/2017 – 08/2021, CDC-NCIPC, Anti-bullying laws and youth violence in the United States: a longitudinal evaluation of efficacy and implementation, Multiple PI
• 07/2017 – 12/2021, NIJ, National Institute of Justice, Link for Schools: a system to prevent violence and its adverse impacts, Multiple PI
• 01/2019 – 12/2021, University of Minnesota-Clinical Translational Science Institute, Policies and practices to prevent bias-based bullying in schools: a multi-method pilot study, Multiple PI
• 03/2020 – 03/2021, COVID-19 Rapid Response Research Program, How much social distance is enough? Family preparedness and responses to non-pharmacologic interventions, Multiple PI
• 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
• 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

See a full list of my publications on PubMed

Select Publications

• Ramirez MR, Flores JE, Cheng G, Peek-Asa C, Cavanaugh JE (2021). An Approach to Analysing Correlated Contextual Factors: An Application for Studies on Violence. Injury Prevention Published Online First: 04 January 2021. doi: 10.1136/injuryprev-2020-043967.
•  Rexing CJ, Hohl BC, Johnson RM, Ramirez MR, Carlson KF, Garrettson M, Cruz TH (2020). We must do better science: addressing racism to improve health and safety for all people. Injury Prevention, 26:502-503.
• Rosebush CE, Zaidman B, Schofield KE, Erickson DJ, Tschida B, Ramirez M, McGovern PM (2021). An evaluation of the Minnesota Safe Patient Handling Act: trends in workers’ compensation indemnity claims in nursing home workers before and after enactment of the law. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 78:22-28.
• Bolenbaugh M, Foley-Nicpon M, Young R, Tully M, Grunewald N, Ramirez M (2020). Parental perceptions of gender differences in child technology use and cyberbullying. Psychology in Schools, 57:1657-1679.
• Woods-Jaeger B, Sexton CC, Branch C, Bolenbaugh M, Roth L, Stelson EA, Braatan N, Ramirez MR. (2019). Engaging parent-child dyad and health care provider stakeholders in a patient-centered comparative effectiveness study. Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research, 8(9), 721-732.
• Immerfall S, Ramirez MR (2019). Link for Schools: A System to Prevent Trauma and Its Adverse Impacts. NASN School Nurse, 34(1), 21-24.
• Ramirez M, Bedford R, Wu H, Harland K, Cavanaugh JE, Peek-Asa C. (2016) Lighting and marking policies are associated with reduced farm equipment-related crash rates: a policy analysis of nine Midwestern US states. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 73(9), 621-626.
• 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