Just as preventing firearm injuries is a community endeavor, researching effective ways to prevent harm takes a community-based approach and requires deep understanding of the issue.
That’s the thinking behind the Firearm Injury Prevention Research in Nursing (FIPRN) Scholars Program, which is wrapping up its first annual session at University of Colorado Anschutz. The program draws early-career researchers from nursing and allied fields from across the country to advance scientifically rigorous, community-engaged work in firearm injury prevention.
The 12-week hybrid training initiative is co-led by Emmy Betz, MD, MPH, professor in the CU Department of Emergency Medicine and founding director of the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative (FIPI), and Scott Harpin, PhD, MPH, RN, professor at the CU Anschutz College of Nursing.
“The goal is to help build the next generation of scientists doing work in firearm injury prevention research, specifically in a way that is engaged with communities and is non-partisan,” says Betz, who was recently named associate dean for centers and institutes in the CU Anschutz School of Medicine.
The FIPRN Scholars Program also aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and to help build a national network of firearm injury prevention researchers.
FIPI is partnering on the project with the Injury & Violence Prevention Center (where Betz was deputy director), a joint venture of the School of Medicine, the Colorado School of Public Health, and the College of Nursing.
→ FIPI Takes its Suicide-Prevention Message to a Major Firearms-Industry Trade Show
The goals of the FIPRN Scholars Program are a natural extension of FIPI’s work in mentoring and training scientists in this field. So, when an opportunity arose for a major education grant – known as an R25 – for training in firearm injury prevention research from the National Institute of Nursing Research, part of the National Institutes of Health, Betz and her colleagues applied through a competitive process. They were among three grant recipients nationwide.
For this year’s inaugural session, 30 applications were received from early-career researchers across the country. Most were nurses who have recently earned or are pursuing a doctoral degree, as well as postdoctoral fellows and assistant professors in related fields, Betz says.
The original plan was to accept eight applicants into the training cohort. But with the help of additional funding from the College of Nursing, Betz and her colleagues were able to stretch enrollment to 13.
This year’s training began with a 3⅟₂-day in-person session on the CU Anschutz campus in late February, followed by virtual learning sessions that will continue into May.
Photo at top: Members of the first cohort of the FIPRN Scholars Program pose on the CU Anschutz campus.
FIPRN Scholars Program trainees visit the Denver Youth Program’s REACH Clinic.
Betz says the FIPRN Scholars Program focuses on “teaching cutting-edge methods of research that are specific to firearm injury prevention,” including suicide prevention and domestic violence.
“We also spend a lot of time focused on professional network development – helping scholars connect with each other and with senior mentors around the country,” she says. “This field of research is relatively small, which is why NIH put out this call for proposals, and why we’re really interested in helping people work together and collaborate in teams.”
Early-career scientists interested in firearms injury prevention research “can sometimes feel isolated because they don’t know many people yet in the field,” Betz says. “So when we talk about helping with team science, it’s mostly about helping them with connections.”
The program also includes training on how to engage with community partners on all sides of firearms issues – engagement that supports meaningful research that gets accepted across various audiences, Betz says.
“We think it’s so important to understand the needs and perspectives of the community you're trying to work with and for,” she says. “So, for example, if you care about preventing youth gang violence, you need to understand why it's happening, but also, how to engage with communities in your research. How do you collect data in an ethical way? How do you disseminate results back to communities so they can use them? It’s a matter of building relationships, of showing up ready to listen and partner while still keeping your scientist hat on.”
→ Finding a Path Forward on Gun Issues: A Panel with Diverse Views Shares Ideas
While at CU Anschutz, trainees were taken to the Denver Youth Program’s newly launched community REACH Clinic supporting people with firearms-related injuries “to meet with professionals who work in community violence intervention and prevention, to learn what they do, and to think about how research can support and amplify their work,” Betz says.
The cohort also went to a nearby firing range, she says, “to have a panel discussion with community partners who frequently interact with and support firearm owners – firearms instructors, firearms business operators, and others – and who care deeply about suicide prevention, for example. It was a way to get out of the ivory tower, break down some barriers, and really think about how we, as researchers, best partner with different communities to meet their needs and still be doing phenomenal science.”
Other session topics include research grant writing, dissemination, and working with the media.
Trainees also attended presentations from a trio of visiting national experts in the field (videos of which are available here):
→ Training Builds Confidence Among Local Public Health Leaders to Address Firearm Injury Prevention
Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, MSN, RN, of Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, speaks at a FIPRN Scholars Program session.
Ultimately, by drawing in early-career scholars from coast to coast, the FIPRN Scholars Program helps FIPI cast a wider net, Betz says.
“We are a national leader in community-engaged, cutting-edge research in prevention of all types of firearm injuries,” she says. “One of the things we’re most proud of at FIPI is that we try to be out and about, on the ground, doing work on the front lines while still caring deeply about science and evidence-based practice. And so leading a program like this is exciting, because it gives us a chance to showcase what we've been doing here and helps us build our own network with these new scholars at other institutions.”
Betz was encouraged by positive feedback from the first training cohort and looks forward to continuing the initiative next year.
“It's been a lot of work, but for us, it's been a joyous experience to see the next generation of scientist leaders in this field develop. It’s a tough time right now for funding and for science in general, but they're all enthusiastic and excited. It feels wonderful to support them and to showcase our campus as well.”