Plan My Ride was created by innovation Research & Training (iRT). iRT is committed to conducting high-quality, innovative basic and applied research as well as creating products and services that better society with a focus on enhancing the physical health, mental health, and quality of life of children, adolescents, adults, families, communities, and organizations. iRT staff members apply clinical and technical knowledge and skills to develop and evaluating, and helping others to develop and evaluate, evidence-based programs and services. iRT staff members have applied their cutting-edge knowledge and skills to develop over 20 e-learning program products to date, while also helping others to develop and evaluate evidence-based programs and services.
iRT’s areas of expertise include: substance misuse prevention and treatment, mentoring, child and adolescent social and emotional skills development, sexual health, child and adolescent mental health, adult and juvenile justice programs, healthcare, media literacy, drug courts, underage drinking, and domestic violence.
Rebecca Stelter, Ph.D.
Research Scientist II
Dr. Rebecca Stelter is the developer of the Plan My Ride program. She is passionate about creating research-informed, fun, highly interactive, innovative programs to keep our children, family, and friends safe on the road. Her work focuses both individual and environmental approaches to preventing substance use and impaired driving, including the use of community coalitions and prevention professionals to implement universal, selective, and indicated interventions.
Dr. Stelter has been the Principal Investigator on previous contracts and grants funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Department of Transportation (DOT) on the topic of impaired driving prevention. She is also the lead author of web-based trainings for prevention professionals on the topic of drugged driving prevention including Drugged Driving Essentials, and Strategic Skills for the Prevention of Drugged Driving.
Dr. Stelter received her doctorate in Developmental Psychology at North Carolina State University. She has been a Research Scientist at iRT for over 10 years.
Janis B. Kupersmidt, Ph.D.
President & Senior Research Scientist
Dr. Janis Kupersmidt founded iRT more than 20 years ago out of a passion for helping prevent youth from engaging in unhealthy and risky behaviors. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and a former tenured professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has published more than 70 peer-reviewed chapters and scientific articles on topics related to mentoring, prevention science, the social and emotional development of children and adolescents, peer relations, delinquency, academic achievement, and aggression.
Dr. Kupersmidt received her doctorate in Psychology from Duke University.
Kim Gosnell
Art Director
Ms. Kim Gosnell has designed and produced many of iRT’s web and print-based products. She directs the overall design of the Plan My Ride web-based training interface, interactive activities, custom graphics, and animations.
Richard Van Horn, M.S.
Senior Web Application Developer
Mr. Richard Van Horn has led the work developing iRT’s proprietary software to disseminate web-based trainings and programs, collect research data, and manage studies and student learning. He is an engineer at heart and always enjoys learning and applying new technologies. He supports the Plan My Ride website as well as the research and design teams.
Advisory Boards:
Young Adult Advisory Board
The Plan My Ride program was developed in consultation with six teens and young adults from across the U.S. who were recruited to be members of the Young Adult Advisory Board. This board was instrumental in developing the content for Plan My Ride. They provided feedback on the accuracy and realism of the scripts and scenarios that were developed for the program, ensuring that this program would resonate with teens and young adults in an authentic way.
Prevention Professional Stakeholder Board
Five prevention professionals from across the U.S. were also identified to serve as consultants on the Stakeholder Advisory board during the development of the Plan My Ride program. These prevention professionals provided unique insights into the current challenges with delivering high-quality, evidence-based prevention programming to teens and young adults, the latest public health and safety issues that are relevant to this population, and advice for implementing the Plan My Ride program by school and community-based organizations. Their feedback informed the content and approach of Plan My Ride, and we are grateful for their input and guidance.
Partners:
There are several strategic partners who have made important contributions to the development and distribution of the Plan My Ride program.
Innocorp/Fatal Vision
Innocorp/Fatal Vision is the strategic marketing and sales partner for Plan My Ride. They have been a champion of this program and a strategic partner in identifying the best approaches for broadly disseminating this program throughout the U.S.
NOYS (National Organization for Youth Safety)
NOYS empowers young people to address a range of health and safety issues, including road safety. NOYS provides strategic input on the Plan My Ride program and assistance in disseminating the program to youth serving organizations.
Horizon Productions
Plan My Ride includes high-quality traditional and 360-degree virtual reality media. Horizon Productions is the video production partner in developing this content for the program, bringing the highest level of quality and professionalism to the program.