Mississippi Violence Injury Prevention Program
Meet Our Researchers
Lei Zhang, PhD, MBA
Dr. Zhang serves as PI of the Mississippi VIP Program. He is a Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship in UMMC's School of Nursing, with secondary appointments as professor in UMMC's John D. Bower School of Population Health and its School of Health-Related Professions. Prior to joining the faculty at UMMC, Dr. Zhang had a 20-year career with the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH). During his tenure with MSDH, Dr. Zhang worked extensively with community groups in Jackson and throughout Mississippi in joint efforts to improve public health. A biostatistician by training, he previously directed MSDH's Office of Health Data and Research, where he was the PI for the Mississippi Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), and Behavioral Risk Factoring Surveillance System (BRFSS). Dr. Zhang is a member of Mississippi Suicide Prevention Workgroup and participated in the development of the Mississippi Suicide Prevention Plan.
Matthew Kutcher, MD, MS
Dr. Kutcher serves as one of two Co-PIs of the Mississippi VIP Program. He is a board-certified surgeon and intensivist with appointments in both UMMC's Departments of Surgery and Emergency Medicine, and provides direct clinical care to injured patients. His fellowship training included trauma, acute care surgery, and critical care. Dr. Kutcher serves as the chair of Mississippi's state Committee on Trauma, and co-director of UMMC's surgical intensive care unit. An active NIH-funded clinical and translational researcher, Dr. Kutcher's publications include 16 articles related to inter-personal violence. Dr. Kutcher works closely with other members of the study team to assure that all specific aims are achieved.
Erin Dehon, PhD
As associate professor of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Dehon is one of approximately 15 clinical psychologists in the nation with primary faculty appointments in Emergency Medicine. Dr. Dehon's scholarly interests include survey research, with specific training and expertise in evidence-based treatments for mental health conditions, behavioral and psychological assessments, and quantitative and qualitative research using social-psychological variables. She works closely with Drs. Karimi and Morris and our community partners to develop and administer the surveys described in our scope of work.
Fazlay Faruque, PhD
Dr. Faruque is a professor of Preventive Medicine at UMMC. He joined the faculty in 2000 as the founding director of UMMC's GIS and Remote Sensing Program. For the last thirty years, Dr. Faruque has been teaching and conducting research in the area of environmental health utilizing a variety of geospatial technology. He works closely with Dr. Hillegass and others, including our community partners, in the application of spatial methods in the research scope of work.
William Hillegass, MD, MPH, PhD
Dr. Hillegass is a cardiologist and biostatistician who has been involved in the design, conduct, and/or analysis of 74 prospective studies and clinical trials as well as multiple observational studies. The observational studies are largely longitudinal clinical and population health studies/analyses utilizing multiple designs, methods, and data types (claims, electronic health record, area level data, economic, unstructured data). He has expertise in health economic and simulation studies.
Masoumeh Karimi, PhD, MPH
Dr. Karimi is an assistant professor in UMMC's School of Nursing. She holds a PhD in Health Psychology and an MPH, with a major focus in epidemiology and biostatistics. She served as a co-PI of a national mental health screening program in Tehran, "Validity, Sensitivity and Specificity of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28, GHQ-12, and K-10) among Iranian Medical Students." Dr. Karimi works closely with Drs. Dehon and Morris and our community partners to develop and administer the surveys described in our scope of work.
Carl Mangum, PhD
Dr. Mangum is an associate professor in UMMC's School of Nursing, where he directs the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Track and specializes in Emergency Preparedness and Response. He will work with our community partners to administer surveys developed by our team and assist in the development of our study interventions.
Matthew Morris, PhD
Dr. Morris is a clinical psychologist and an associate professor in UMMC's Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. He has expertise in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, PTSD, and chronic pain. His research is focused on trauma-related mental and physical health conditions, including psychosocial and neuroendocrine risk factors for PTSD and persistent pain, and understanding determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in acute and chronic pain. Dr. Morris works closely with Drs. Dehon and Karimi and our community partners to develop and administer the surveys described in our scope of work.