Ginger Yang Team
Jingzhen Ginger Yang, PhD, MPH
Principal Investigator
Dr. Jingzhen (Ginger) Yang is a Principal Investigator at the Center for Injury Research and Policy, of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She is a Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Epidemiology in The Ohio State University College of Public Health. Dr. Yang’s primary research interest is injury prevention, with an emphasis on injuries to children and adolescents. Much of her current research focuses on the trajectory of recovery from sports-related mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) among children as well as parental engagement in teen driving safety. Dr. Yang’s research interests address some of the leading causes of death and disability among children in the US and worldwide. Dr. Yang has a national and international reputation as a consummate researcher and is recognized for her leadership in the field of injury prevention. Dr. Yang’s research has not only advanced scientific knowledge but also significantly impacted children and their families by preventing and reducing the burden of injuries.
Funding for Dr. Yang’s work has been provided primarily through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This research includes studies that monitor physical and cognitive rest following sports-related concussion for optimal recovery, and evaluate the effects of state TBI laws on rates and patterns of pediatric concussions and concussion-related healthcare utilization. Currently, Dr. Yang is directing three NIH-funded R01 studies. Two R01s are randomized controlled trials that test the effectiveness, implementation and cost-effectiveness of parent-focused driving safety programs on the safe driving practices of teen drivers who have received a traffic violation. The third R01 is a longitudinal observational study that examines driving performance of teens after mild traumatic brain injury.
Dr. Yang has a distinguished national and international record of achievement through involvement in a wide range of other injury prevention, intervention, and evaluation research projects. Over the course of her academic career, she has been the Principal Investigator or Co-investigator on 35 grants and contracts, and author/co-author on over 150 peer-reviewed publications, and 5 book chapters. From 2010 to 2015, she was appointed to the Major League Baseball Injury Research Committee, which provides guidance in injury research among professional baseball players. In 2013, she received the American Public Health Association (APHA) Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section (ICEHS) “Excellence in Science Award,” a prestigious award for her outstanding achievements in the field of injury prevention.
ProjectDRIVE: Intervention to Improve Driving Practices Among High-Risk Teen Drivers
This R01 study, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health tests, through partnership with the local Juvenile Traffic Courts, the effects of an in-vehicle driving feedback technology, with and without parent communication training, on risky driving events, unsafe driving behaviors, and subsequent traffic violations among teens drivers with a traffic violation.
ProjectDRIVE+: Adoption and Implementation of an Evidence-based Safe Driving Program for High-Risk Teen Drivers
This R01 study, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health tests, in a hybrid randomized controlled trial, the implementation, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of the evidence-based intervention Steering Teens Safe+ tailored to the needs of high-risk rural and urban teen drivers with a traffic violation.
R2DRV: Longitudinal Assessment of Driving After Mild TBI in Teens
This multi-site R01 study, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health longitudinally evaluates driving among teen drivers with an mTBI from acute post-injury to symptom resolution using high fidelity driving simulators and self-reports. It assesses the influence of increased cognitive load and underlying neurocognitive deficits on driving performance compared to matched healthy controls.
Team Members
Enas Alshaikh, PhD
Biostatistician
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Dr. Enas Alshaikh is a biostatistician in the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Center for Perinatal Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, working with Dr. Ginger Yang and Dr. Sudarshan Jadcherla, respectively. She received her PhD in biostatistics from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Alshaikh specializes in varying coefficient in semiparametric models for longitudinal data, survival analysis, and predictive modeling. She also has extensive experience in analyzing and managing large databases using both SAS and R. In her free time, she enjoys walking in the park with her kids and eating seafood.
Armita Kar, PhD
Post-Doctoral Research Scientist
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Dr. Armita Kar is a post-doctoral research scientist at the Center for Injury Research and Policy on Dr. Yang’s team. She completed her PhD in geography at The Ohio State University in 2023, her MS in geography and GIS at the University of Utah in 2019, and her BS in urban and regional planning from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2015. Her research interests include human mobility and urban safety, equity and resilience, and geospatial data science. She has published in several well-reputed peer-reviewed journals.
Archana Kaur, MPH
Senior Research Associate
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Archana is a senior research associate in Dr. Ginger Yang’s lab in the Center for Injury Research and Policy. She manages an R01 (ProjectDRIVE) which focuses on improving teen driving behaviors. She received her Master of Public Health from East Carolina University in 2017. Her previous research focused on access to healthy foods in the rural population. Her current research focuses on teen driving behaviors and concussion recovery in children.
Dominique Rose, PhD, CHES
Research Scientist
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Dr. Dominique M. Rose is a research scientist in the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital working with Dr. Ginger Yang. She received her MPH and Ph.D. in Public Health and Health Education from Southern Illinois University in 2019. Her research seeks to understand the intersection of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic disparities, and teen driving safety. Dominique is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, and her favorite ways to stay grounded include exercise, traveling, and spending time with her son and loved ones.
Christopher Rundus, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
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Christopher R.M. Rundus is a postdoctoral research scientist in the Center for Injury Research and Policy working with Dr. Ginger Yang. He earned his MS and PhD in industrial engineering from the University of Iowa, and his BS in mathematics and BS in psychology from Eastern Michigan University. His research focuses on driver behavior, driver monitoring, injury prevention, human-vehicle interaction, and the development of advanced driver assistance systems. Christopher is originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan and enjoys working out, playing guitar, hiking, and spending time with his family.
Hannah Schneider, MPH
Research Associate
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Hannah is a research associate in the Center for Injury Research and Policy on Dr. Ginger Yang’s team. She received her MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education and a certificate in Injury Science from the University of Michigan in 2023. Her previous research positions focused on prevention of youth firearm violence and promotion of child and family well-being. Hannah is originally from Connecticut and enjoys exercising, cooking, reading, and spending time with her friends and family.
Helen Schneider
Senior Research Associate
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Bio coming soon!
Ava Semaan
Research Intern
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Ava Semaan is a research intern for Dr. Yang's team in the Center for Injury Research and Policy. She is in her senior year of undergraduate studies at Kent State University working on a human development and family science degree, with a concentration in child and youth development. Through her work at CIRP and her educational background, child welfare and safety research are important passions that she is grateful to be able to participate in.
Priyanka Sridharan, MPH
Research Associate
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Priyanka is a research associate in Dr. Ginger Yang’s lab in the Center for Injury Research and Policy. She received her MPH from George Washington University in 2023 and moved to Columbus right after. She is originally from India and enjoys cooking Indian cuisine, being physically active, reading books, and spending time with her family and friends.
Krista Wheeler, MS
Research Project Manager
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Krista is a research project manager in the Center for Injury Research and Policy on Dr. Ginger Yang’s team. She has an MS in preventive medicine from The Ohio State University. She has co-authored over 70 publications covering injury, trauma and burn care. She is originally from Oklahoma and enjoys reading, gardening, and spending time with her friends and family.
Fangda Zhang, PhD
Research Scientist
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Fangda Zhang is a Research Scientist working with the Yang research team. Fangda obtained his PhD in industrial engineering and operations research with a focus on human factors in transportation safety in 2021 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he also earned his Certificate in Statistical and Computational Data Science and master’s degree. Fangda’s research mainly concerns driver distraction and driving behavior, injury prevention, human-vehicle interaction, human factors in automation, and technology adoption.