SAVIR Member Spotlight: Jeff R. Temple, PhD

Jeff R. Temple, PhD, Professor and Associate Dean of Clinical Research, UTHealth, School of Behavioral Health Sciences

Tell us about your areas of interest within injury and violence prevention. Why did you decide to pursue a career in this field?

I was working as a Starbucks barista (my future wife was a customer) when I started graduate school. Not as forward-thinking as trainees are today, I put in little thought on what I wanted to focus on. During orientation, Dr. Linda Marhsall – a violence researcher – stood up and loudly and rudely shouted “I need a research assistant,” and immediately walked out. I needed a “real” job, so in one of the better decisions of my life, I followed her out and was with her for the next several years. That’s how I became a violence researcher. I became frustrated with just studying the impact of violence so I turned my attention to prevention – and thus adolescents and dating violence became my specialty. Preventing dating violence has the potential to not only improve the lives and health of adolescents, but the enormous potential to improve their academic, career, and relationship happiness throughout their life.

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

I’ve been an off and on member for 15 years but promise to be a continuous member from this point forward. I love the community of SAVIR – that we’re all in this together and bumping each other up at every opportunity.

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

When I got my first R01, I called my mentor, Dr. Greg Stuart, to share the good news. I focused on the size of the grant and how this would position me in my career. He stopped me short and said, “That is all great Jeff, but this research is going to save lives.” That reminded me that the work we do has real meaning with real consequences for real people. Important then, and with science under constant attack, even more important now.

What do you like to do in your free time?

The easy and obvious answer is to hang out with my family – they’re all good people. Beyond that, I still play baseball for the Gulf Coast Sugar. We’re old and slow and drink during games, but we’re still the best damn sandlot team in the state of Texas.