The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) has been awarded a 2-year, $711,218 grant by the National Collaborative for Gun Violence Research for a multi-center, prospective study to improve understanding of the individual and community level risk factors for non-lethal firearm injuries in the U.S.
This ACS COT study is among $7.5 million in grants announced by the Collaborative for 15 research projects that will produce evidence for improving gun policy in America. The grants build on a recent revival of gun violence research funding. In July 2019, the Collaborative awarded an initial round of $9.8 million to 17 research projects. Then, for the first time in more than 20 years, the federal government committed $25 million to support gun violence research at the end of 2019.
“Research has a critical role to play in informing evidence-based and effective firearms injury prevention strategies,” said Eileen Bulger, MD, FACS, Chair of the ACS COT and chief of trauma at Harborview Medical Center, Seattle. “We are excited to contribute to this new wave of firearm injury research, especially given the rigorous standards set by the Collaborative.”
The prospective multi-center study will utilize the infrastructure of the American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP) to develop a nationally representative dataset of predominantly non-lethal firearm injuries, which will used to better understand both individual and community level risk factors associated with non-lethal firearm injuries. ACS-COT is a member of the Coalition for National Trauma Research, and this study will engage our CNTR Firearm Injury Prevention Research Scholar in this important work.
The ACS COT study was selected from among 48 full proposals invited by the Collaborative after receiving 238 letters of interest responding to its proposal request. The Collaborative funds rigorous scientific research with direct relevance to firearm-violence reduction in the United States. For more information, go to www.ncgvr.org.