A new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council proposes priorities for a research agenda to improve understanding of the public health aspects of gun-related violence, including its causes, health burden, and possible interventions. 

Dr. John A. Rich, a professor and chair of the department of Health Management and Policy in the Drexel University School of Public Health, was a member of the committee that developed the report. He is available to comment on research priorities for addressing gun violence.

The committee that wrote the report said significant progress can be achieved in three to five years through a research program that addresses five high-priority areas: the characteristics of gun violence, risk and protective factors, prevention and other interventions, gun safety technology and the influence of video games and other media.

Rich directs the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice at Drexel. Its cornerstone program, “Healing Hurt People,” is a hospital-based violence intervention and prevention program that works with clients who are seen in the emergency department for intentional injuries such as gunshots or other assault wounds. He is the author of the book Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men.

For more information about the Institute of Medicine/National Research Council report on research priorities, see the press release here.