Federico E. Vaca, MD, MPH

Dr. Federico E. Vaca is a physician-scientist and leader in emergency medicine, injury prevention, and automotive safety research. He currently serves as Professor and Executive Vice Chair in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine. He is also the founding Director of the UCI School of Medicine’s Brain, Body, and Behavior Driving Simulation Lab (B³ DrivSim Lab).   Throughout his career, Dr. Vaca has made significant contributions to injury prevention and motor vehicle safety. His research focuses on motor vehicle crash injury epidemiology, young driver behavior, alcohol and drug-impaired driving prevention, and driving simulation. Dr. Vaca has previously served as a Medical Fellow for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington, DC.  He has chaired and participated in various NIH scientific review committees and National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Transportation Research Board standing committees and panels. Dr. Vaca has previously served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.