معرفی
Federico E Vaca is a board-certified emergency medicine physician and physician-scientist at Yale School of Medicine. He holds dual appointments as Professor Adjunct in both the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Child Study Center. His research focuses on occupant safety, adolescent development, and health disparities in motor vehicle crash injuries and alcohol use disorders.
Education:
- MD from Creighton University School of Medicine (1992)
- MPH from University of California at Los Angeles (2002)
- Medical Fellowship at NHTSA (2002)
- Residency and Chief Residency at University of California-Irvine (1995)
- Fellowship at University of California-San Diego (1996)
Research Interests combine emergency medicine, adolescent behavioral medicine, and health equity. His work employs system dynamics modeling to analyze transportation safety and neurocognitive assessment through the Yale Developmental Neurocognitive Driving Simulation Research Center (DrivSim Lab). Key contributions include understanding cannabis-impaired driving and social-environmental factors influencing young driver decisions.
Scientific Awards include the
- Leffell Prize for Clinical Excellence (2019)
- National Faculty Teaching Award (2013)
- AAMC Humanism in Medicine Award (2005)
- California State Traffic Safety Achievement Award (2007)
Dr. Vaca leads NIH-funded research through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). His work spans interdisciplinary collaborations with co-authors in public health, neuroscience, and policy analysis. He actively participates in national committees including the Transportation Research Board and Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine.