Our Team

Co-Director

Cass Crifasi, PhD '14, MPH, studies how evidence-based policies and programs can reduce violence and advance equity.

Co-Director

Josh Horwitz, JD, works to reduce gun violence by utilizing public health research and health equity analysis to build advocacy campaigns that meet critical opportunities in the policy development process.

Director of Operations

Rebecca leads human resources, financial management, staff allocation, process and systems improvement, people management, and other functions to ensure an efficient and effective Center.

Senior Administrative Coordinator

Leads administrative efforts to keep the Center running smoothly. 

Director of Practice, Core Faculty

Studies how clinicians and hospitals can act to reduce youth violence and injury while promoting resilience and equity

Director of Communications

Empowering diverse voices, improving awareness, and fostering change to communicate our vision of a future free from the shadows of gun violence.

Director of Policy and Programming

Strengthens state movement building efforts across the country through a program supporting state-level gun violence prevention advocates.

Director of Development

Oversees the fundraising for the Center, raising income to support its mission to reduce gun violence in all its forms.

Director of Law and Policy

Studies the constitutional implications of, advocates for, and works to improve the implementation of firearms laws.

Director of Research Translation

Translates research into evidence-based policy proposals and reports to craft gun violence policy solutions from a public health perspective.

Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Partnerships

Applies an intersectional lens to ensure diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism are centered in gun violence research, advocacy, and assessment. 

Research Data Analyst

Works to reduce and prevent gun violence through research translation in conjunction with research, advocacy, and policy endeavors throughout the Center.

State Affairs Manager

Supports the Center's advocacy efforts to pass evidence-based gun violence prevention policies in state legislatures across the country.

Core Faculty

Has been conducting policy, advocacy and nursing research on the mental and physical health outcomes of experiencing violence, especially intimate partner violence, including risk factors for intimate partner homicide for 30 years.

Core Faculty, ERC co-lead

Uses her experience representing survivors to implement equitable and impactful gun violence prevention policies across the country. 

Law & Policy Advisor

Operates at the intersection of legal, legislative, and research realms to protect civil rights and reduce gun violence in an equitable manner.

Core Faculty

Spatial epidemiologist and medical geographer who works on pushing the frontier of understanding the nexus between health and place.

Assistant Policy Advisor

Brings public health and community organizing background to her work to support the implementation of policies to save lives and build healthier communities.

Core Faculty

Translates evidence about injury and violence prevention into policies and practices that will create safe places for people to thrive.

Senior Advisor for Implementation, ERC co-lead

Studies policies to reduce gun violence and uses research to implement evidence-based gun policies at the state level.

Multimedia Communications Specialist 

Produces video content to support gun violence prevention and spread awareness to the public.

Advocacy Manager

Advocates for policies, programs, intervention and prevention strategies, and funding for those efforts across disciplines by forging partnerships with a wide variety of stakeholders. Lori brings a lived perspective to her work as a survivor of gun violence.

Core Faculty

Studies social policy and data science with racial equity and justice for young people in focus.

Core Faculty

Employs social and behavioral science methods to create, implement, and evaluate behavior change programs.

Digital Communications Specialist

Helps advance gun violence awareness and prevention efforts through social media, content creation, writing, press and media collaboration, and other digital initiatives.

Assistant Policy Advisor

Researches and advocates for evidence-based policies to reduce gun violence in local communities.

Core Faculty

Examines firearm policy, opioid policy, and other areas affected by the relationships between law and the public's health.

Program Coordinator

Leveraging her background in community health program implementation, school violence prevention, behavioral and digital threat assessment, and state policy delegation, she collaborates with stakeholders to advocate for, adopt, and implement research-driven strategies to reduce gun violence.

Core Faculty

Focuses on advancing health equity through violence prevention and addressing consequences of involvement with the criminal legal system.

Associate Director of Development, Annual Giving

Oversees annual giving for the Center to raise funds to reduce gun violence.

Senior Development Coordinator

Supports individual donations, large gifts, and fundraising efforts for the Center. 

Core Faculty

Uses clinical concepts and research to advance public health approaches to suicide prevention, including risk assessment, novel treatments, and consideration of access to lethal means.

Core Faculty

Focuses at the intersection of public health and public safety to establish policy and practice improvements both with-in and across systems with positive implications for communities. 

Core Faculty

Research focuses on lifetime cumulative exposures to violence, including intimate partner violence and stress caused by experiencing health inequities, particularly among minority and immigrant women.  

Senior Research Data Analyst

Employs epidemiologic methods to conduct rigorous research and advocate for evidence-based gun violence solutions, fostering equity in communities.

Core Faculty

Michelle Spencer, MS, is a public health practitioner who focuses on the impacts of health equity, racial disparities, and health outcomes through community-based initiatives.

Law & Policy Advisor

Devises strategies for implementing evidence-based gun policies and analyzes Second Amendment and other constitutional challenges to firearms laws and the historical and scholarly record supporting their constitutionality.

Core Faculty

Uses statistical methods to help learn about the effects of public health programs and policies, often with a focus on mental health and substance use.

Senior Research Program Coordinator

Applying a social equity lens on gun violence prevention research efforts across various projects within the Center.

Core Faculty

Leads transdisciplinary community-based research and advocates for place-based policies to address the root causes of social and injury-related problems within neighborhoods.

Core Faculty

Promotes and evaluates the ways the law can be used as a tool to promote public health, particularly in the areas of injury and violence prevention.

Distinguished Research Scholar

Studies policies and programs intended to reduce gun violence and teaches public health approaches to violence prevention.

Core Faculty

Researches health and racial disparities, income inequality, neighborhoods and violence, and hospital community benefits to improve health access.

Foundation Relations Officer

Builds relationships with foundations and manages foundation fundraising to support the Center.

ACTFAST Research Program Manager

Provides leadership as well as operational and general oversight of the ACTFAST for Kids and ACTFAST for Adults multicenter trials. 

Senior Research Data Analyst 

Uses statistical methods to study topics at the intersection of public policy and firearms, with an emphasis on understanding policy impacts and public safety outcomes.

ACTFAST Research Assistant

Working to engage community and health system stakeholders to provide trauma-informed, patient-centered injury prevention education.

Core Faculty 

Conducts mixed-methods research evaluating community violence interventions.

Affiliate Faculty

Studies natural language processing and artificial intelligence and their application to problems in public health and medicine.

Affiliate Faculty

Focuses on fostering the health and well-being of children and youth in the face of violence, adversity, and exposure to the criminal justice system.

Postdoctoral Fellow

A prevention scientist whose aim is to use research principles to analyze social systems, draw conclusions, and implement strategies to address Gun Violence.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Researches hospital-based violence intervention programs, care, trauma, and racial justice by centering the perspectives, insights, and goals of Black men who survive gunshot wounds.

Postdoctoral Fellow

An interdisciplinary scientist who works at the intersection of adolescent development and mental health, focusing on racial health disparities, community violence, and ecological theories.