Harvard Injury Control Research Center
Our mission is to reduce the societal burden of injury and violence through surveillance, research, intervention, evaluation, outreach, dissemination, and training.
About HICRC
The Harvard Injury Control Research Center (HICRC) works to reduce the societal burden of injury and violence through research, intervention, evaluation, outreach, and training. Since its founding at Harvard Chan School in 1990, HICRC researchers have published hundreds of books, chapters, journal articles, editorials, and more on topics including:
- Suicide
- Gun ownership, storage, and carrying
- Batterers
- Alcohol and drug use
- Road rage
- Youth and family violence
HICRC researchers were the first to, among other things, analyze national gun storage practices; explain the overestimation of self-defense gun use; describe the policy preferences of National Rifle Association members; and examine the prevalence of firearms on college campuses.
HICRC turns research into practice through partnerships and collaborations with more than 60 local, national, and international institutions, ranging from the Massachusetts Veterans Health Administration to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the International Association of Chiefs of Police. HICRC researchers assisted injury experts in Greece and the European Union with protocols for the detection of intimate partner violence; co-founded the National Center for Suicide Prevention Training; created the National Violent Death Reporting System; and continually work with gun advocates to disseminate ways to reduce rates of gun suicide.
Additionally, HICRC continues to elevate the injury field, still in its adolescence, and make the case that violence is a public health problem. HICRC sponsors five injury courses each year at Harvard and offers additional training to those interested in injury prevention research, including through postdoctoral fellowships and grand rounds.
Click to read HICRC’s mission statement.
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What we do
We study the causes and etiology of injury to develop and evaluate prevention and intervention strategies.
We investigate areas of mortality and morbidity including suicide, intentional injuries in family or community settings, and unintentional and intentional injuries related to the use of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. We also conduct studies on transportation safety.
We identify vulnerable populations—those who suffer an unusually high burden of mortality and morbidity due to injuries—and work to pinpoint the determinants of their injuries and ways to prevent them.
Our impact
From spearheading firearm research to helping expand suicide prevention initiatives, the Harvard Injury Control Research Center has become a national leader in the field of injury and violence prevention.
Our many accomplishments include
- Creating the pilot of National Violent Death Reporting System for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Increasing knowledge about firearms, including being the first to analyze national gun storage practices, explain the overestimation of self-defense gun use, describe the policy preferences of National Rifle Association members, and examine the prevalence of firearms on college campuses.
- Contributing scientific knowledge about the effects of drinking alcohol and its implications for transportation and safety policies.
- Training suicide prevention individuals and groups across the U.S and collaborating with guns dealers, gun ranges and gun trainers to reduce suicide.
- Working with local, federal, and international authorities to reduce the number of disabling and deadly injuries.
Our funders
Since 2000
Our team
Our collaborators
Since 2010
About the Center
The Harvard Injury Control Research Center (HICRC) works to reduce the societal burden of injury and violence through research, intervention, evaluation, outreach, and training.