OHSU Gun Violence Prevention Research Center

About the OHSU Gun Violence Prevention Research Center

Oregon, like the rest of the nation, is experiencing the devastating effects of the gun violence epidemic. It claims the lives of young and old Oregonians every day and leaves injured survivors as well as families and communities profoundly impacted by the trauma. In 2021, 670 people in Oregon were killed by firearms, and an estimated 875 people were treated for firearm injuries in Oregon’s emergency rooms. Rates of firearm-related deaths that year were 28% higher than those in Washington, and 50% higher than those in California.

Gun violence affects all Oregonians, but in some communities that have experienced historic or present-day disinvestment, the impact is felt more intensely. This is particularly true in communities of color that have experienced high rates of firearm homicide and in rural communities that have experienced high rates of firearm suicide.

The OHSU Gun Violence Prevention Research Center applies the upstream prevention tools of Public Health to address the gun violence epidemic. The Public Health approach uses epidemiology and other scientific methods to measure health problems, identify risk and protective factors for those problems, develop interventions to reduce risk factors and/or increase protective factors, and evaluate the efficacy of those interventions (including costs, risks, benefits, and the unintended consequences to various communities, individual liberties, or people’s livelihoods). Dr. Kathleen Carlson, with her training and expertise in Public Health and injury epidemiology, directs a diverse, dedicated, and experienced team of researchers who are using established and innovative methodologies to generate the data to more fully describe and understand the burden and characteristics of intentional and unintentional firearm injury and death in Oregon and to identify effective solutions.

Foundational funding for the establishment of the Center was generously provided by the Silver Family Innovation Fund in 2022.

The OHSU Gun Violence Prevention Research Center Carries on the Work of the Gun Violence as a Public Health Issue Initiative and Advisory Committee

As the Center carries on the activities of the GVPHI Initiative, the GVPHI Advisory Committee is transitioning into an advisory board for the Center. To learn more about the GVPHI Initiative and Advisory Committee history, go to the GVPHI Initiative and Advisory Committee webpage.