Thomas J Songer

Contributions to Public Health

• Training the Next Generation on the Role of Epidemiology – A large part of my career has been focused on training students to explore and apply the concepts of epidemiology in their work.  Through teaching (4000+) students, mentoring (100+) students, and leadership in professional development activities (core competencies for the department and national organizations), I have enriched the capabilities of the next generation.
  • Songer T, Stephens-Stidham S, Peek-Asa C, Bou-Saada I, Hunter W, Lindemer K, Runyan C.  Core competencies for injury and violence prevention.  Amer J Public Health  2009 99:600-606
  • TRB Joint Subcommittee for Highway Safety Workforce Development.  Core competencies for highway safety professionals.  Research Results Digest 302.  Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.  May 2006  Available at http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rrd_302.pdf
• Economic Issues affecting persons with Diabetes – My research interest lies in exploring the social and economic consequences of living with diabetes.  My work has identified the costs of diabetes, out-of-pocket health care costs, health insurance, and economic barriers to care related to diabetes.
  • Pihoker C, Braffett BH, Songer TJ, et. al.  Barriers to care, health care utilization, and health and economic outcomes in youth with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.  JAMA Network Open  2023 May 1; 6(5):e2312147.
  • Songer TJ, Haymond MW, Cuttler L, Glazner JE, Klingensmith GJ, Laffel LM, Zhang P, Hirst K.  Healthcare and associated costs related to Type 2 diabetes in youth and adolescence.  Pediatric Diabetes 20(6):702-711, Sept 2019.
• Social Impact of diabetes - Another research focus examines the social implications of living with diabetes.  Employment barriers can exist due to hypoglycemia.  My research has quantified how crash risks differ between persons with and without diabetes.  Another study outlined the implications of licensing truck drivers with diabetes, and led to a change in federal policy to allow persons with diabetes to drive trucks.  My current work examines caregiving and how it affects family members.
  • Songer T. Low blood sugar and motor vehicle crashes in persons with Type 1 diabetes.  Annu Proc Assoc Adv Automot Med 2004  48:115-12
  • Songer TJ, Lave LB, LaPorte RE.  The risks of licensing persons with diabetes to drive trucks.  Risk Analysis  13(3):319-326, 1993