State grant to support alcohol prevention program for drivers

Dr. Federico Vaca and the UC Irvine School of Medicine’s Center for Trauma and Injury Prevention Research were recently awarded a $489,000 grant by the California Office of Traffic Safety to continue their alcohol-impaired driving prevention program. The award will allow for significant expansion of important ongoing computerized alcohol screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment activities at the UC Irvine Medical Center Emergency Department and Trauma Center. The CTIPR research team also will implement their computerized alcohol screening and intervention tool in the college healthcare setting. Vaca, CTIPR director and associate professor of clinical emergency medicine, is a leading expert on traffic safety issues.