04/01/2024

SAVIR Student Spotlight

Erika Marts, MPH Student, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington

How long have you been involved with SAVIR and what committees are you on?

I became involved with SAVIR in August 2023 and I’m currently on the Student and Early Career Professionals (SECP) and Communications Committees!

What are your injury and violence prevention research interests?

My research interests include firearm injury prevention, adolescent health, and substance use. I’m currently a graduate research assistant at the University of Washington’s Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program (FIPRP), where I work alongside the Washington State Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention (OFSVP). My thesis is focused on describing firearm injury trends among adolescents in King County, Washington.

What is something you enjoy about participating in a SAVIR committee as a student?

As a Master’s student who is very early in my career, it has been extremely valuable to have a designated space outside of my university to connect and engage with PhD students and early career professionals who were previously in my position and have continued to work in injury prevention. It has been such a wonderful experience to learn more about the work other folks are doing inside and outside of my research interests. I’ve also really enjoyed getting to work on communications materials on the Communications Committee and tie together two of my interests: injury prevention and graphic design!

What motivates you every day?          

Hearing the lived experiences of folks who have lost a loved one to gun violence and seeing the profound impact that firearm-related harm has on individuals, their families, and their communities has been my motivation to work on reducing and preventing firearm injury. I’ve been so inspired by the meaningful work that folks in SAVIR and my colleagues at FIPRP have done and working alongside these incredible researchers has shown me how injury prevention research makes our communities safer.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I love to bake, read, do yoga, and try new coffee shops in my spare time!