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.
Mission
To reduce injury through training, research, intervention, evaluation, and dissemination.
FOCUS: The primary focus of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center is on the interdisciplinary study of the causes and etiology of injury and its application for the development and evaluation of prevention and intervention strategies and policy. Within this focus, HICRC currently has two primary areas of strength:
- Violence — primarily youth violence and family violence, and
- Cross-Cutting Issues — including alcohol and other drug use, firearm use, and treatment setting.
HICRC is particularly concerned with identification of vulnerable populations–those that suffer an unusually high mortality and burden of morbidity due to injuries. The goal is to identify specific determinants of injuries among these populations and investigate how to reduce injuries for these populations.
Areas of mortality and morbidity currently under study include suicide, intentional injuries in family or community settings, and unintentional and intentional injuries related to the use of alcohol, tobacco, and
firearms. HICRC also conducts studies dealing with transportation safety.
HICRC devotes significant resources to teaching and training. The injury field is in its adolescence. Thus one goal of HICRC is to expand and promote the field within and outside the academic environment.
HICRC emphasizes:
- Providing high-quality training to students and practitioners
- Attracting new and experienced scholars to the injury field
- Increasing the interest and knowledge of policy makers and the media
COLLABORATIONS: HICRC is located in the School of Public Health at Harvard University in Boston. The Center is able to take advantage of the latest advances in methodological, outcomes, and health sciences research across Harvard-affiliated departments and hospitals.
The Boston area as a whole contains some of the best-known universities in the nation and attracts excellent students and scholars from around the world, adding to the potential for collaboration. HICRC is committed to fostering ongoing alliances among area scholars and practitioners and to providing a resource for the New England area in injury etiology and control.
APPROACH: The disciplinary training of core HICRC staff and researchers includes public health, medicine, epidemiology, economics, criminal justice, social and developmental psychology, sociology, and other behavioral sciences. A multidisciplinary approach is taken to all research and training activities.