04/03/2023

Council of Centers Spotlight:

Injury & Violence Prevention Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Contact: Ashley Brooks-Russell. ashley.brooks-russell@cuanschutz.edu

Official Name of Organization/Center: Injury & Violence Prevention Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Director: Ashley Brooks-Russell, PhD, MPH

Center’s Twitter Handle: @InjuryCenterCO

Year Center was founded: The Injury & Violence Prevention Center (IVPC) was officially launched in August 2021. Prior to that time, our membership was known as the Program for Injury Prevention, Education & Research (PIPER), which was founded in 2011.  

City/State where Center is located: Aurora, Colorado

What is something that the city in which your center is located is known for? 

Denver is known for its recreation. Not only are there many world-class ski resorts within a couple hours drive, the metro area offers lots of biking and hiking trails. Many people like to be outdoors and stay active, especially with a canine friend in tow.

What are the primary injury topics your center addresses?

We have faculty and partnerships in nearly all injury topic areas, including the following:

• Firearm injury
• Motor vehicle injury
• Sports injury
• Suicide prevention
• Child maltreatment
• Youth violence prevention
• Opioid overdose prevention

 Tell us a bit about the injury work that is being done at your organization/center.

One of our most active research programs is the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative (FIPI) run by Dr. Emmy Betz. They have lots of new and exciting developments on the horizon. For example, they are releasing an out-of-home storage toolkit that has been used locally and is a model nationally. The FIP goals are to use collaboration, education, and scientific research to prevent firearm-related injuries and deaths of all types in all populations in Colorado and nationally.

Another large project is “Community Organizing for Prevention.” This project is providing technical assistance and evaluating for a statewide program. The goal of the project is to take an upstream, primary prevention approach to reducing substance misuse and violence among youth, by through a shared risk and protective factors approach rooted in systems change.

My own research focuses on drug impaired driving and identifying novel methods to identify cannabis impairment to prevent impaired driving.

Are there opportunities in which students or faculty can connect with your center?

Right now we are have an open call to provide student research project funding. It’s open to all levels of students located in the mountain west (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming). This funding opportunity is open twice a year and we encourage students to apply!

We have regular newsletters including one with a general focus and on focused on firearm injury prevention.

We also have a monthly seminar series “Research2Practice” that is free and open to the public. If you can’t make it one month, recordings are made and posted on Colorado School of Public Health YouTube channel.

How is your center involved with SAVIR?

We are thrilled to be collaborating with SAVIR to host the 2023 SAVIR Conference in Denver, CO! Please come visit us in Denver!

What is your favorite part about SAVIR?

One of the things I like best about SAVIR is how supportive it is to students and trainees. There are lots of ways to get involved, find mentorship, and network nationally.

Tell us about a fun tradition or activity you do as a center.  

We’re a relatively young center so we are still building our traditions. With the loosening of COVID restrictions we’ve begun to gather in person, with semi-annual open house events.