Motor Vehicle Crash
Injury Research
At UAB, I was the Associate Director of the Mercedes-Benz Crash Injury
Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) center from 1999 through 2004, which
resided within the UAB Department of Surgery.
The research involved studying actual car crashes to determine
mechanisms of injury. The project brings
together engineers, epidemiologists, trauma surgeons, orthopedic surgeon,
emergency medical practitioners, etc., to study the crashes and injuries with
the goal of providing information that will ultimately help make automobiles
safer. At UAB, I was also involved in
several other collaborative projects related to transportation safety supported
by NHTSA through the Center for Injury Sciences. I am still interested in this topic, but it
has not been a focus since I joined the faculty of Auburn University, primarily
because I have been too busy with other research areas.
STUDENTS
Anna Simpson (MSCE August 2001), A
Comprehensive Study of Statistics, Governmental Regulations, and Biomechanical
Models for Vehicle Induced Head Injury, (project report UAB)
Fidelis Badaki (MSME August 2001), Use of Rigid Body Dynamics to Simulate Motor
Vehicle Occupant Motion in Crashes that involve Roadway Curbs, (project
report UAB)
Jason Keeley (MSBME August 2003), Force
Distribution to Lower Extremities during Motor Vehicle Crashes, (published
thesis UAB)
Nancy Fouad (undergraduate research), Adriana Dunn (undergraduate
research)
JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS
Li Z, Alonso JE, Kim JE, Davidson JS, Etheridge BS, Eberhardt
AW, “Biomechanical Response of the Pubic Symphysis in Lateral Pelvic Impacts: A
Finite Element Study,” Journal of
Biomechanics, Elsevier, 40 (2007) 2758–2766.
Eberhardt AW, Li Z, Alonso JE, Kim
JE, Davidson JS, Etheridge BS, “Three-Dimensional Finite Element Models of the
Human Pubic Symphysis with Viscohyperelastic Soft
Tissues,” Annals of Biomedical
Engineering, Vol. 34, No. 9, September 2006, pp. 1452–1462.
Moran SG, Key JS, McGwin G, Keeley JW,
Davidson JS, Rue LW, “The applicability of a computer model to predict head
injury incurred during actual motor vehicle collisions,” J Trauma. 2004 Jul;
57(1):99-103.
Melton SM, McGwin G, Cross JM, Davidson J,
Waller H, Doss MW, Vickers S, Rue LW, “Common bile duct transection in blunt
abdominal trauma: case report emphasizing mechanism of injury and therapeutic
management,” J Trauma, 2003 Apr;
54(4); 781-785.
PRESENTATIONS
Keeley JW, Kim JE, Davidson JS, Moore WA, Eberhardt
AE, “A Madymo Study of Pelvic and Lower Extremity
Injury during Frontal Crashes,” 2003 ASME
International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, Washington,
D.C., November 16-21, 2003 IMECE2003-44585.
“Injury and Collision Characteristics that Together are Suggestive of
Diaphragmatic Rupture,” Loring W. Rue III, Gerald McGwin,
Stephan Moran, James Davidson, Presented at the quarterly CIREN conference,
December 5, 2002.
“Incidence and Characteristics of Motor Vehicle Collision-Related Blunt
Thoracic Aortic Injury According to Age,” Loring W. Rue III, Gerald McGwin, Stephan Moran, James Davidson, Presented at the
quarterly CIREN conference, December 6, 2001.
“Clinical, Biomechanic, and Epidemiologic
Perspectives on Side Impact Crashes,” Loring W. Rue III, Alan Eberhardt, Gerald McGwin, James
Davidson, Holly Waller, Marilyn Doss and Todd Sheils,
Presented at the quarterly CIREN conference, July 21, 2000.
“A Case Study of Lower Extremity Fractures,”
Loring W. Rue III, Gerald McGwin, James Davidson,
Holly Waller, Marilyn Doss and Alex Jones. Presented at the quarterly CIREN conference, May 5, 2000.
Davidson, J.S., “The University of Alabama at Birmingham
Mercedes-Benz CIREN Center,” Forty-Third
Annual Transportation Conference, Montgomery AL,
REPORTS
Keeley JW, Eberhardt AW, Kim JE, and Davidson
JS, A Madymo
Study of Pelvic Injury Factors in Motor Vehicle Collisions, a report
submitted to the UAB Center for Injury Sciences, The University of Alabama at
Birmingham, September 2003.
“The Mercedes-Benz CIREN Center at the University of Alabama at
Birmingham,” chapter of the "CIREN, Crash Injury Research and Engineering
Network Program Report" written by Jim Davidson, published by the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), December 2001.
Davidson JS, and Simpson AM, A Comprehensive Study of Statistics, Governmental Regulations, and
Biomechanical Models for Vehicle Induced Head Injury, report submitted to
the Center for Injury Sciences,
August 2001.
Davidson JS, Simpson AM, and Connell JD, Benefits of Interaction between UTCA and
Other Safety-Focused Centers and Organizations, report published by the
University Transportation Center for Alabama (UTCA), UTCA Report 99252,
November 30, 2000.
SPONSORED PROJECTS
Co-Investigator, “Development of a Crash Injury Research and
Engineering Network (CIREN) Center”, (continuation) sponsored by a Cooperative
Research Agreement between Mercedes Benz and the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA), with the UAB Department of Surgery and the
Trauma Center, P.I. - Dr. Loring Rue, M.D., Annual Renewal for 5th year, May
2003 through April 2004.
Co-Investigator, “Development of a Crash Injury Research and
Engineering Network (CIREN) Center”, (continuation) sponsored by a Cooperative
Research Agreement between Mercedes Benz and the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA), with the UAB Department of Surgery and the Trauma
Center, P.I. - Dr. Loring Rue, M.D., Annual Renewal for 4th year, May 2002
through April 2003.
Principal Investigator, “Use of Occupant Kinematic
Modeling to Identify Forces Causing Traumatic Injury from Motor Vehicle
Crashes,” sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) through the Center for Injury Sciences, September 1, 2001 through
August 30, 2002.
Co-Investigator, “Development of a Crash Injury Research and
Engineering Network (CIREN) Center”, (continuation) sponsored by a Cooperative
Research Agreement between Mercedes Benz and the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA), with the UAB Department of Surgery and the
Trauma Center, P.I. - Dr. Loring Rue, M.D., Annual Renewal for 3rd year, May
2001 through April 2002.
Investigator, “Biomechanics of the Pelvic Ring,
Acetabular and Ankle Fractures,” sponsored by the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) through the Center for Injury Sciences,
October 2000, 1-year, co-investigators Alan W. Eberhardt,
PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Jorge Alonso, MD, Department of
Surgery.
Investigator, “Study of Craniofacial Injuries in the
Pediatric Trauma Population and Mechanical Characterization of Pediatric Hard
Tissue Bone Properties,” sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) through the Center for Injury Sciences,
October 2000, 1-year, with Drs. John Grant, M.D., and Evangelos
Eleftheriou, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator, “Benefits of Interaction
between UTCA and Other Safety-Focused Centers and Organizations,” Project 99-52
sponsored by the University Transportation Center of Alabama (UTCA),
September 1, 1999 through August 30, 2000.
Co-Investigator, “Development of a CIREN Center”, sponsored
by a Cooperative Research Agreement between Mercedes-Benz and the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), with the UAB Department of
Surgery and the Trauma Center, P.I. - Dr. Loring Rue, M.D., June 1999 through
May 2001.
Co-Investigator, “Development of a Model State Brain Injury
Program”, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA), with the UAB Department of Surgery and the Trauma Center, P.I. - Dr.
Loring Rue, M.D., July 1999 through June 2001.