New funding for firearm violence research in California
August 18, 2020
University of California, Center for Firearm Violence Research (UCFC)
The University of California Firearm Violence Research Center (UCFC) awarded more than $250,000 in firearm violence research grants this month to teams of investigators at UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego and UC Davis.
The grants are designed to assist new and early-stage investigators in California, as well as established investigators in other fields, as they develop research programs to address firearm violence. The center received 10 applications, and 7 studies were selected for funding. Primary Research Grants -- Awards of up to $75,000 for 2-year studies were made for the following research projects:
Primary Research Grants -- Awards of up to $75,000 for 2-year studies were made for the following research projects:
- Pilot testing the Lethality Assessment Program to reduce gun related intimate partner homicides in Los Angeles (PI Jennifer Wagman, Fielding School of Public Health, UCLA, UCGHI WHGE COE Deputy Director): This project will adapt and pilot the Lethality Assessment Program, a tool for preventing intimate partner homicide, in four Los Angeles Police Department divisions. Researchers will use its findings to develop a full-scale study to evaluate the program’s impact in Los Angeles.
- UNITE: Understanding links between social determinants and firearm violence in California communities (Principal Investigator (PI) Rochelle Dicker, Division of General Surgery, UCLA): This project will establish a University of California trauma consortium and map fatal and non-fatal firearm injuries in trauma center catchment areas. It will link injuries with social determinants of health, based on location of residence and injury location, to better understand vulnerable populations and root causes of violence.
- Advancing Peace: Credible Messengers & Community Gun Violence Reduction (PI Jason Corburn, Institute of Urban and Regional Development, UC Berkeley): Researchers will explore how community outreach workers in the cities of Richmond, Sacramento and Stockton act as credible messengers to interrupt gun violence. The study will also focus on how the outreach workers mentor young people and sustain themselves while working for a community-based violence reduction program called Advance Peace.