About Us

The UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP) is a multi-disciplinary program of research and policy development focused on the causes, consequences, and prevention of violence. We place a particular focus on firearm violence, and on the connections between violence, substance abuse, and mental illness.

We helped develop the public health approach to violence in the 1980s, and we apply that approach to everything we do. Our mission is to develop and disseminate the research evidence on which informed policy and practice are based. Our approach to research and prevention is hemispheric, focusing on areas that face the highest burden from violence.

Our program of research on firearm violence is internationally recognized as among the best of its kind. We are now expanding in size and scope, adding new areas of emphasis in alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, and the social factors that determine risk for violence, substance abuse, and mental illness. VPRP’s director is Garen Wintemute, M.D., M.P.H., an emergency physician and one of the nation’s leading firearm violence researchers and policy experts. Click to learn more about our team.

VPRP research informs policies and programs that prevent violence and empowers communities to help realize a safer future.  Read the Spotlight on VPRP to learn how VPRP is developing knowledge and driving change.