SAVIR Member Spotlight: Cara J. Hamann, PhD, MPH

My interest lies primarily with unintentional injuries, with a focus on road traffic safety. More specifically, my work includes naturalistic studies, interventions, and linked analyses of transportation, justice, and medical data of high-risk and vulnerable road user groups and locations (rural areas, bicyclists, pedestrians, teen drivers, older drivers, child passenger restraint). I first got interested in injury prevention while I was a Master’s student in Texas where I worked on an emergency department-based study about alcohol-related traumatic injuries. When I started my doctoral studies I knew I wanted to work in injury prevention, but with the advice of my mentor I chose to study bicycling safety for my dissertation, which was my first foray into road safety work and it just grew from there.

How long have you been a member of SAVIR? What has been your favorite part about being involved with SAVIR?

I have been a member of SAVIR since 2012. My favorite part of being involved with SAVIR is the people. SAVIR is made up of such a fantastic group of people doing amazing work, but also is a place where I have been able to find great colleagues and make new friends.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of your career so far?

The biggest rewards of my work come from seeing tangible change. For example, I have been able to contribute to some state-level road safety policy changes and I’ve also been able to see road safety behavior improvements related to the intervention and evaluation work for which I have been involved.

What do you like to do in your free time?

In my free time I like to spend time with family and friends, enjoy the outdoors (hiking, biking, gardening, etc.), read, and cook.