Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Psychology, Lehigh University, 2019
  • M.A., Psychology, Towson University, 2014
  • B.S., Psychology, Elmira College, 2011
Licenses & Certifications
  • Certified English XL Tribometrist (CXLT)
  • OSHA 10 Hour Outreach Training Program - General Industry
Professional Honors
  • Graduate Student Life Leadership Award, Lehigh University, 2019
  • College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Student Research Grant, Lehigh University, 2018
  • College of Arts and Sciences Leadership and Service Award, Lehigh University, 2018
  • Distinguished Graduate Student Award, Towson University, 2014
  • Cowles Honor Scholar, Elmira College, 2007-2011
  • Presidential Honor Scholarship, Elmira College, 2007-2011
Professional Affiliations
  • Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2019-Present
  • • Surface Transportation Technical Group
  • SAE International 2022-Present
  • • Voting member of Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keeping Assist Task Forces 2022-2024
  • Association for Women in Science, 2017-Present
  • Association for Psychological Science, 2010-Present
  • Psychonomics Society, 2014-2019
  • National Association for Graduate and Professional Students, 2018-2019
  • Cognitive Science Society, 2016-2017

Iiona D. Scully, Ph.D., is a senior managing scientist in Exponent's Human Factors practice specializing in the investigation of human factors in transportation accidents; consumer product safety information and warnings; slips, trips, and falls; and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated vehicles (AVs). She consults in these areas of expertise for law firms, insurers, consumer product industries, and the federal government, and she has used her expertise to testify as a technical expert in litigation matters.

Transportation Accident and Driver and Pedestrian Behavior Investigations

Dr. Scully investigates the human factors underlying transportation accidents involving light-duty vehicles, commercial trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians. Her analyses address issues of environmental conditions, pedestrian behavior, and driver and operator behavior including perception response time (PRT), situational awareness, visual and auditory perception, lighting and conspicuity, stress and fatigue, attention and distraction, human memory and decision-making, and information processing.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and Automated Vehicles

Dr. Scully evaluates the human factors of ADAS and AVs, helping clients understand driver use, misuse, trust, and understanding of technologies such as forward collision warning (FCW), automatic emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane departure warning (LDW), lane keeping assist (LKA), lane centering assist (LCA), blind spot warnings (BSW), SAE Level 2 ADAS, and high-level vehicle automation. Her work addresses driver trust, mental models, mode awareness, experience, and response times.

Consumer Product Safety Information and Warnings

Dr. Scully performs evaluations of consumer product safety information, including warnings, labels, and instructions, across a wide range of product categories including, but not limited to, kitchen and household appliances, outdoor appliances, equipment, sporting goods, textiles, hair and cosmetic products, and vehicles. Dr. Scully has performed analyses of injury data (e.g., the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS)) and has experience in the design, implementation, execution, and analysis of human subjects research evaluating how users understand and use consumer products.

Slip, Trip, and Fall Human Factors Assessments

Dr. Scully conducts human factors assessments of slip, trip, and fall incidents in commercial, residential, hospitality, retail, and public environments. Her evaluations address pedestrian attention and distraction, environmental lighting and conspicuity, walkway surface conditions, footwear, and the role of human perception and expectation in slips, trips, and falls.  

Evaluation of Eyewitness Memory and Reliability

Dr. Scully evaluates the reliability of eyewitness perception, memory, and recall in civil litigation, transportation contexts, industrial contexts, product use, and criminal proceedings. Her analyses address how visual and auditory perception, attention, stress, time delay, post-event information, repeated questioning, and interactions among witnesses can impact what an individual perceives, retains, and later recalls.

Expert Witness Support and Testimony Experience

Dr. Scully has been qualified as a human factors expert and offered deposition and trial testimony in state and federal court. She has testified on several topics including vehicle operator behavior, pedestrian behavior, bicyclist behavior, perception response time, visual and auditory perception, nighttime visibility and conspicuity, eyewitness memory and perception, effects of warnings and safety information, driver use and understanding of ADAS, and consumer purchase decisions.

Dr. Scully has expertise in several statistical and research methodologies including quantitative data analysis, meta-analysis, and electrodermal activity (EDA) data collection and analysis.