Deborah C. Girasek

PhD, MPH

Department of Primary Appointment:
School of Medicine
Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics
Title
Professor & Director of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Division
Location: Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD
Research Interests:
Social & Behavioral Aspects of Unintentional Injury Control
Email
Deborah.Girasek@usuhs.edu
Office Phone
(301) 295-9775

Education

Ph.D., Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Maryland
M.P.H. University of Michigan School of Public Health, Michigan

Career Highlights: Positions, Projects, Deployements, Awards and Additional Publications

Member of Editorial Board, Injury Epidemiology (2013-present)

Member of DoD;s Military Injury Working Group, in support of the 3 Star Safety & Occupational Health Steering Group (2014-present)

Member of the National Park Service's Drowning Prevention Advisory Board (2014-2016)

Paper was one of six selected from the journal “Injury Prevention’s” 20 year publication history, based upon its impact on the field (2015)

Recipient of the Outstanding Biomedical Graduate Educator Award, USUHS (2014)

Appointed to the NOAA Operations and Assessment Team for Hurricane and Post-tropical Cyclone Sandy (aka "Superstorm Sandy") (2012-13)

(Selected Additional Publications) Girasek DC. Advice From Bereaved Parents: on Forming Partnerships for Injury Prevention. Health Promotion Practice 6(2):207-213, 2005.

Wegner MV, Girasek DC. How readable are child safety seat instructions? Pediatrics 111(3):588-591, 2003.

Girasek DC, Gielen AC, Smith GS. Alcohol’s contribution to fatal injuries: a report on public perceptions. Annals of Emergency Medicine 39:622-630, 2002.

Girasek DC. How members of the public interpret the word accident. Injury Prevention 5:19-25, 1999.

Representative Bibliography

Girasek DC, Hargarten S. Prevention of and Emergency Response to Drowning. New England Journal of Medicine 387:1303-8, 2022.

Girasek DC, Marschall JS, Pope D. Understanding Hikers Who Approached a Hazardous River in Yosemite National Park. Injury Prevention. Published Online First:28 September 2015 doi:10.1136/injuryprev-2015-041625.

Girasek DC, Marschall JS, Pope D. Patterns of behavior that pose potential drowning risk to hikers at Yosemite National Park. Journal of Travel Medicine 23(1):tav016, 2016. doi: 10.1093/jtm/tav016.

Girasek DC. Gauging Popular Support for Traffic Safety in the United States. Accident Analysis & Prevention. 50:1112–1117, 2013.

Girasek DC. Towards operationalizing and measuring the Traffic Safety Culture construct. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 9(1):37- 46, 2012.

Girasek DC. Evaluation of a brief intervention designed to increase CPR training among pregnant pool owners. Health Education Research. 26(4):689-97, 2011.

Girasek DC, Taylor B. An Exploratory Study of the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Motor Vehicle Safety Features. Traffic Injury Prevention 11(2):151-155, 2010.

Girasek DC, Olsen CH. Airline Passengers' Alcohol Use and Its Safety Implications.Journal of Travel Medicine 16(5):311-316, 2009.

Girasek DC, Olsen CH. Usual seatbelt practices reported by airline passengers surveyed in gate areas of a U.S. airport. Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine 78:1050-1054, 2007.

Girasek DC. Would society pay more attention to injuries if the injury control community paid more attention to risk communication science? (Commentary) Injury Prevention 12:71-73, 2006.