With her training in public health and epidemiology, Dr. Myers primary research focuses on community violence and trauma recovery support. She also is actively involved in studies addressing child and adolescent passenger safety in motor vehicle crashes
Dr. Myers is the associate director at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP) and a research scholar with the Center for Violence Prevention at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She serves as co-director for the CHOP Community Violence and Trauma Support programs, including the Violence Intervention Program (VIP). Dr. Myers is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and teaching faculty in the University of Pennsylvania Master in Public Health program, where she routinely serves as a capstone advisor.
Dr. Myers' research focuses on both intentional and unintentional pediatric and adolescent injury prevention and recovery. In her work, she addresses the epidemiology of intentional pediatric injuries and evaluation of hospital-based and community-focused programming to support recovery of injured youth and their families. She leads efforts to enhance the evaluation of pediatric hospital-based violence intervention programs with support from the National Institute of Justice. She collaborated with member programs of the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (The HAVI) to establish the feasibility of cross-site data sharing among hospital-based violence intervention programs and is working to establish outcomes and practices that can enhance understanding and collection of outcomes achieved by these programs. Additionally, with community partners, Dr. Myers is co-leading several community-based participatory research projects to support community-based violence prevention programming and co-develop tools and approaches to support programs in measuring and demonstrating their impact.
Additionally, Dr. Myers remains actively involved in work addressing child and adolescent passenger safety in motor vehicle crashes. She is currently conducting a study examining the use of child restraints and injury outcomes in motor vehicle crashes in New Jersey, using the novel New Jersey-Safety and Health Outcomes (NJ-SHO) data warehouse. Dr. Myers also serves as a co-investigator of an NICHD-funded study examining transportation and driving among young adults with autism.
BA, University of Pennsylvania (Health and Societies), 2005
MS, Temple University (Epidemiology), 2011
PhD, Temple University (Public Health), 2016
Associate Director, Center for Injury Research and Prevention
Co-Director, Community Violence and Trauma Support Programs, Center for Violence Prevention
Research Scientist, Center for Injury Research and Prevention
Research Assistant Professor, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Association for the Advancement of Automobile Medicine (AAAM), 2020-
The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI), 2014-
American Public Health Association, 2014-
Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research, 2017-
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, 2018-
Enhancing Quality of Pediatric Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program Services
The Pew Foundation
7/1/2022-6/30/2024
This project will enhance implementation of our pediatric HVIP model and increasing our ability to evaluate client-reported outcomes to build evidence for program success in promoting recovery and re-establishing safety for youth and their families.
Role: Principal Investigator; Myers (PI)
Addressing Community Violence-related Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Children
National Institutes of Health/NICHD
9/11/2017–5/31/23
This study will test the effectiveness of the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention in reducing traumatic stress symptoms in youth after an assault injury.
Role: Co-Investigator; Fein (PI)
An Integrated Approach to Establish the Scientific Foundation for Driving Among Adolescents with Autism
National Institutes of Health/NICHD
9/12/2018–5/31/2023
This study will comprehensively address and examine how teens and their families decide to drive, how frequently and where teens with autism spectrum disorder drive, and how well they drive once licensed.
Role: Co-Investigator; Curry (PI)
Formative Evaluation of a Pediatric Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program
National Institute of Justice
1/1/2020–9/30/22
The project will rigorously describe the components and outcomes of the victim service program offered by the CHOP Violence Intervention Program and define the tools and resources needed to support program implementation.
Role: Principal Investigator; Myers (PI)
Past Grants
Assessing the Intersection of Bullying and Physical Violence among Patients Seeking Primary Care
Foerderer Grant for Excellence/CHOP
7/1/2020 – 6/3/2021
This project will describe the burden of pediatric injuries treated in primary care following intentional interpersonal violence and the intersection between bullying and physical victimization to inform prevention and intervention efforts.
Role: Principal Investigator; Myers (PI)
Contact Information
267-425-0393