Jean T. Shope

Dr. Jean T. Shope is a research professor in the Young Driver Behavior and Injury Prevention Group and serves as an associate director of UMTRI. Dr. Shope began conducting research at UMTRI in 1991, and served as the head of the Social and Behavioral Analysis Division from 1995 to 2005. She is also research professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where she has been on the faculty sine 1979. Dr. Shope is director of the U-M Center for Injury Prevention among Youth, a collaboration between UMTRI and the U-M School of Public Health.

Dr. Shope has a BSN degree from Cornell University, an MSPH degree from the University of Minnesota, and a PhD degree from Wayne State University in the theoretical and behavioral foundations of education. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in health behavior and health education in the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Dr. Shope has an extensive background in funded behavioral science research, much of it regarding school health education, adolescent substance use, adolescent driving, at-risk drinking, drink/driving, older drivers, and graduated driver licensing. Research sponsors include the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Safety Council, the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse an Alcoholism, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, General Motors, and Toyota, as well as various state agencies and departments. Dr. Shope has a substantial publication record, and is a sought-after expert, especially in the injury prevention areas of teen and young adult drivers, driver education, and graduated driver licensing. She has worked in the areas of adolescent health promotion and risk reduction for over thirty years, and in the area of adolescent and young adult driving for nearly twenty years.

Dr. Shope chairs the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Transportation (ANB50), served on the National Academies’ Committee on Contributions from the Behavioral And Social Sciences in Reducing and Preventing Teen Motor Vehicle Crashes, and is secretary of the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety. In 2005, she was the recipient of the University of Michigan’s Research Faculty Achievement Award.