Funded Injury Control Research Centers (ICRCs)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Director: Stephen Marshall, PhD
Address: 725 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., CB# 7505, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7505
Phone: (919) 966-2251
Email: iprc@unc.edu
Website: https://iprc.unc.eduexternal icon
Twitter: @UNC_IPRC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNC.IPRC

For more than a quarter-century, the University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center (UNC IPRC)external icon has transformed and advanced the field of injury control. Since its creation in 1986, UNC IPRC has conducted a multitude of high-quality research studies that have radically advanced a diverse range of injury and violence topics, including:

• traumatic brain injury,
• dating violence,
• abusive head trauma,
• child abuse and neglect,
• residential fire fatality,
• intimate partner violence, and
• occupational violence.

UNC IPRC has advanced the evidence base of injury and violence prevention through interventions addressing

• dating violence,
• child maltreatment prevention programs,
• falls prevention programs for older adults and
• injury prevention programs in youth sports clubs and military settings.

UNC IPRC has trained and educated over a thousand practitioners, advocates, and junior scientists. UNC IPRC’s policy impacts include state laws addressing transportation safety, fire safety, and concussions and position statements that set the standard for clinical practice.

The Mission of UNC IPRC is to build the field of injury and violence prevention and control through a combination of interdisciplinary scholarly approaches to research, intervention, and evaluation, and through training the next generation of researchers and practitioners. Our Vision is a world in which injury and violence prevention professionals work collaboratively with local and global communities to implement effective solutions that reduce the occurrence and impact of injury and violence.

Organizationally, UNC IPRC operates as a freestanding Center within the UNC Office of Research, and has strong linkages to many research units and academic departments in the UNC system. External advisors provide periodic guidance while an interdisciplinary Senior Advisory Committee offers on-going, high-level support and assistance on campus. Core faculty and staff meet regularly to develop and implement research projects and refine outreach and training programs that translate research into practice and policy.

UNC IPRC research activities are focused on six program areas:

• Motor Vehicle-Related Injury,
• Violence Against Children & Youth,
• Prescription Medicine Overdose,
• Traumatic Brain Injury,
• Intimate Partner Violence, and
• Falls in Older Adults.

UNC IPRC develops, nurtures, and sustains innovative research teams in each of the six areas. These program areas are overseen by Program Area Leaders.

Throughout its history, UNC IPRC has focused research translation as an area of special emphasis. UNC IPRC has developed innovative techniques for translating scientific research into tangible changes in policies and practice. Our enhanced capacity for research translation reflects our significant staff expertise and history in this area, and our long-standing collaborations with the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch in the Division of Public Health, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Core Research Projects

• Opioid Overdose — Medicaid Expansion and Deaths Due to Opioid Overdose, Suicides, and Homicides Among Formerly Incarcerated Persons
• Sexual Violence — Adaptation of the “Moms and Teens for Safe Dates” Program for Web-Based Delivery
• Sexual Violence — Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence From Adolescence Into Adulthood Among Sexual Minorities and Heterosexuals
• Opioid Overdose — Development of an Emergency Department Patient-Centered Intervention for the Primary Prevention of Long-Term Opioid Use

Exploratory Research Project

• Opioid Overdose — Longitudinal Prescription Opioid Use Among Patients Experiencing Interpersonal Violence
• Opioid Overdose — Correlates of Opioid Misuse Among Pregnant and Parenting Women Seeking Treatment in an Outpatient Pain Clinic
• Violence Prevention — Disarming Abusers — Domestic Violence Protective Order (DVPO) Firearm Restriction Processes and Outcomes
• Violence & Injury — Assessing Domestic Violence Intervention Programs in the United States: Identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, and a Path Towards Restorative Justice