University of Michigan Multi-disciplinary Coordinating Center for the Community Firearm Injury Prevention Network

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Firearm injury is a major U.S. public health crisis requiring urgent attention. Firearm injuries have increased in the past decade, with >400,000 fatalities and ~1.2 million non-fatal firearm injuries. Disparities exist and are reflective of underlying structural factors (e.g., racism). National organizations highlight the need for evidence-based interventions; yet, few rigorously tested community-engaged interventions addressing firearm violence exist, with even fewer addressing structural factors underlying disparities. Recognizing this gap, NIH launched the Community Interventions for Firearm Violence Prevention initiative. Ten research projects, a steering committee, a stakeholder committee, and the NIH will collaborate in a cohesive network to evaluate efficacy of such interventions across diverse settings and populations with leadership from a Coordinating Center to: (a) integrate key activities; (b) harmonize and link data across the network, as well as to public databases to achieve sufficient statistical power to conduct integrated analyses and examine key differences among sub-populations and/or settings; (c) enhance multi-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge sharing across key areas (e.g., methodology; analytic strategies; implementation; economic/policy analysis); and, (d) augment dissemination. In 2017, NICHD funded the University of Michigan (UM) FACTS consortium to bring together >30 researchers across 14 U.S. Universities to build pediatric firearm research capacity. Along with developing a research agenda and novel research, FACTS built the data infrastructure necessary to conduct complex pooled analyses and archive/store data in a public repository. Building on the FACTS Consortium and our experience leading multiple Centers, the UM established the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention (IFIP) to expand this research across the broader spectrum of firearm injuries. We propose for the UM IFIP to serve as the network Coordinating Center for this initiative with five aims: AIM #1: Provide centralized administrative, operational, and logistical infrastructure to support network activities and enhance cross-project communication and coordination (Admin Core); AIM #2: Provide expert consultation and technical assistance to network projects regarding research design and statistical methods, as well as establish the data infrastructure to facilitate cross-site data collection, management, harmonization, linkage, and sharing/archiving (Data Core); AIM #3: Enhance the use of community-based participatory research methods, including by facilitating a community ethics review for each project, ensuring community voice in the research design, methods, and results interpretation. (Community Core); AIM #4: Provide expert consultation to projects to incorporate implementation science and economic evaluation methods to enhance sustainability (Implementation Core); AIM #5: Disseminate key findings to academics, policy makers, and community partners utilizing traditional and innovative media (Communication Core). The proposal leverages U-M IFIPs collective expertise, experience, and resources to aid the broader network initiative work to reduce firearm injuries, and associated disparities.