Dr. Shabbar Ranapurwala is an assistant professor of epidemiology in the Gillings School and part of the core faculty at the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center. He conducts advanced analytical research in injury and violence prevention. His work utilizes a diverse set of epidemiological study designs including cluster randomized trials, retrospective cohorts, case control and ecologic studies. His substantive areas of research include opioid poisoning prevention, violence prevention, occupational injury prevention and the application of principles of causal inference in these areas.

Representative Courses

EPID 690: Intervention Epidemiology (co-teaching)

Research Activities

 
As core faculty in the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, Dr. Ranapurwala studies:

- Prescription and non-prescription opioid use disorders and overdoses;
- Gender-based violence;
- Occupational injuries;
- Traumatic brain injuries in sports; and
- The application of causal inference research methods, including DAGs, to these substantive areas.

Practice Activities

The UNC Injury Prevention Research Center collaborates closely with the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch of the Division of Public Health in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. As part of this long-standing collaboration, Dr. Ranapurwala is an active member of the state's Opioid and Prescription Drug Abuse Advisory Council's Research and Evaluation Core.

Key Publications

Opioid overdose mortality among former North Carolina inmates: A retrospective cohort 2000-2015. Ranapurwala SI, Shanahan ME, Alexandridis AA, Proescholdbell ST, Naumann RB, Edwards D, Marshall SW (2018). American Journal of Public Health, 108(9), 1207-1213.

Methodologic limitations of prescription opioid safety research and recommendations for improving the evidence base. Ranapurwala SI, Naumann R, Austin A, Dasgupta N, Marshall SW (2018). Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Safety, Epub ahead of print.

Impact of prescription monitoring program on opioid pain reliever prescribing patterns in Iowa. Ranapurwala SI, Carnahan R, Brown G, Hinmann J, Casteel C (2018). Pain Medicine, Epub ahead of print.

Do Black Lives Matter in public health research and training? Rosenberg M, Ranapurwala SI, Townes A, Bengtson AM (2017). PloS ONE, 12(10).

Reporting crime victimizations to the police and the incidence of future victimizations: A longitudinal study. Ranapurwala SI, Berg MT, Casteel C (2016). Plos One, 11(7).

Anti-Bullying Policies Reduce the Risk of Bullying Victimization: A State-Level Analysis. Hatzenbuehler ML, Schwab-Reese L, Ranapurwala SI, Hertz M, Ramirez MR (2015). JAMA Pediatrics, 169(10).

A GIS-based matched case-control study of road characteristics in farm vehicle crashes from nine Midwestern US states. Ranapurwala SI, Mello ER, Ramirez MR (2016). Epidemiology, 27(6), 827-834.

The effect of using a pre-dive checklist on the incidence of diving mishaps in recreational scuba diving: A cluster randomized trial. Ranapurwala SI, Denoble PJ, Poole C, Marshall SW, Kucera KL, Wing S (2016). International Journal of Epidemiology, 45(1), 223-231.

Staff/Administrative Duties

- Research Assistant Professor, UNC Department of Epidemiology
- Core Faculty, UNC Injury Prevention Research Center
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Iowa Department of Epidemiology

Education

PhD, Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2014

MPH, Environmental Health, Western Kentucky University, 2009

BHMS, Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, India, 2004