For more than 30 years, the University of North Carolina (UNC) Injury Prevention Research Center (IPRC) has transformed and advanced the field of injury control. IPRC is well-positioned to continue to be a world leader in collaborative efforts to reduce the incidence and burden of injury and violence. Our Mission is to build the field of injury and violence prevention (IVP) through interdisciplinary research studies and by training the next generation of IVP researchers and practitioners. The theme for the 5-year proposal described in this application is ?building injury and violence prevention capacity for protecting vulnerable populations.? UNC IPRC has five Cores: Administrative, Outreach, Education & Training, Methods, and Research. The Methods Core will be funded by a matching cost share of $250,000 from our institution. Our Research Core is organized around five Focus Areas, which are closely aligned with the priorities of CDC's NCIPC: Gender-based Violence, Opioid Drug Overdose, Child Abuse & Neglect, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Road Traffic Injury. The four research projects proposed in this application provide innovative, interdisciplinary science that is responsive to the priorities of the practitioner community. Project 1, entitled ?Intimate Partner Violence among Sexual Minorities from Adolescence into Adulthood,? leverages a large, pre- existing cohort to examine longitudinal patterns of IPV experiences among sexual minorities and heterosexuals. Project 2, entitled ?Medicaid Expansion and Deaths from Opioid Overdose and Violence in Formerly Incarcerated Persons,? will quantify the effect of Medicaid expansion on opioid overdose, homicide, and suicide in person recently released from incarceration. Project 3, entitled ?Adaptation of the Moms and Teens for Safe Dates Program for Web-Based Delivery,? draws on UNC's 30-year history in the area of adolescent dating violence by translating a proven intervention program to a web-based delivery platform. Project 4, entitled ?Development of an Emergency Department Patient-Centered Intervention for the Prevention of Long-Term Opioid Use,? examines the efficacy of a simple, inexpensive emergency department- based intervention intended to improve early pain management and reduce transition to long-term opioid use. In addition, the outreach, translation, methodologic, training, and educational initiatives proposed in this application are designed to increase the professional capacity of the IVP workforce, facilitate evidence-based policy change on injury and violence issues, and broadly disseminate evidence-based injury and violence solutions. Together, the research and practice-based initiatives proposed in this application will advance the science, translation, and application of IVP concepts and programs.
Violence and injuries are a major public health problem, killing more people ages 1 to 44 years in the U.S. than any other cause. Violence and injuries result in 27 million emergency department visits, are responsible for more than 3 million hospitalizations, and cost more than $671 billion in medical care and lost productivity in the U.S each year. Our center's Vision is to conduct innovative research, training, and outreach that strengthens and disseminates the evidence base for injury and violence prevention.
