June 21, 2021

Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends (FIRST) is proud to announce the sixth annual Fire service Injury Research, Epidemiology, and Evaluation (FIRE) Fellowship. Fellowship recipients, known as “FIRE Fellows,” include undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students, as well as alumni, from the Dornsife School of Public Health. This year’s 10-week paid summer Fellowship is funded through a contract from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). The Fellows will be developing a curriculum for firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs to provide skills and knowledge for prevention of workplace violence (WPV).

In addition to working with the IAFF, Senior FIRE Fellow Alexandra Reguinga will be continuing her master’s thesis work on workplace stress and mental health outcomes among fire department dispatchers. Her project is supported through donations raised during Drexel’s Day of Giving and the 24 Hours of Impact fundraising challenge.

The 2021 FIRE Fellowship recipients are (from right to left, top to bottom):

• Victoria Gallogly, MPH(c) 2022, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health

• Zuhaib Haleem, EMT, MPH 2021, Department of Health Management & Policy

• Mobolawa Adio, BS(c) 2024, Dornsife School of Public Health

• Vanessa Tkacikova, EMT, BS(c) 2023, College of Nursing & Health Professions

• Madison Raposa, PhD(c) 2025, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health

• Alexandria Reguinga, MPH 2021, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health

The Fellows will be mentored by: FIRST Center Director, Jennifer Taylor, PhD, MPH, CPPS; Senior Project Manager, Andrea Davis, MPH (2012), CPH; Education & Training Coordinator, Alexandra (Trautman) Fisher, MPH (2020); and FIRE Fellowship alumni.

The FIRE Fellows will use previous FIRST Center scholarship, results from the SAVER project, and the IAFF Fire Ground Survival Program as the basis for developing the IAFF curriculum.

The FIRST Center is a research, education, and practice enterprise organized to support the United States fire and rescue service through objective data collection and analysis.

The IAFF is the AFL-CIO, CLC affiliated labor union representing nearly 300,000 professional fire fighters and emergency medical personnel in the United States and Canada.

For more information, please contact Victoria Gallogly, Outreach and Communications Coordinator at vhg25@drexel.edu.