Dr. Kathleen DeSantis Klinich, PhD is an associate research scientist in UMTRI's Biosciences Group. She is also serving as an associate director of UMTRI. Dr. Klinich has 27 years of experience performing research on how to protect occupants in motor-vehicle crashes, particularly child passengers. She has experience in the analysis of motor-vehicle crashes and crash databases, crash dummy design, laboratory reconstruction of real-world loading events, injury criteria development, occupant-anthropometry and posture evaluation, engineering analysis of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), child-passenger-safety issues evaluation, and finite element modeling. Her most recent research efforts have focused on improving compatibility between child restraints and vehicles, examining belt fit of child occupants, assessing the role of legislation on restraint use, and analysis of crash data to guide future safety priorities.