Center on Violence and Health unites prevention, intervention and policy research

Violence is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide, leaving lasting physical, mental and economic scars on individuals, families and communities. From firearm injuries and gender-based violence to structural and political violence, researchers increasingly see violence not as a criminal justice issue alone, but as a public health challenge. Yet research on violence remains fragmented across disciplines, slowing progress and making it harder to turn findings into policy. 

To help bridge those gaps, the Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis is launching the Center on Violence and Health, a new interdisciplinary center that will unite researchers from across the university to advance the science of violence prevention and translate research into policies and interventions that improve health and save lives. Located in St. Louis, a city that continues to experience high rates of firearm homicide and gender-based violence, the center will build on longstanding community partnerships while generating research with local, national, and global relevance.

“We’ve identified so many people at the university who are researching different elements of violence work,” said Lindsay Stark, MPH, DrPH, a professor and co-director of the new center. “It is all interconnected, whether it’s suicide, trafficking, digital violence, school shootings, political violence. The university really has a deep bench on this work.”

Julia Fleckman, MPH, PhD, an associate professor and center co-director, added, “What we heard from faculty was a real desire for opportunities to connect, collaborate and elevate the work that’s already happening.”

More than 30 faculty affiliates have already joined the center from schools across the university, including the Bursky School, the Brown School, WashU Medicine, the School of Law, Olin Business, and Arts & Sciences. By bringing together scholars from diverse disciplines, Stark and Fleckman hope to spark new collaborations and introduce researchers to perspectives and approaches they might not otherwise encounter.

Fleckman, an expert on firearm violence, recalls a moment that captures the center’s promise. A colleague in the law school who studies gun violence from a legal perspective sent her an article she wrote for the Harvard Law Review, a publication that Fleckman does not routinely read. In it, she argues school shootings are a violation of human-rights law. 

“I would have never thought about that framing before,” Fleckman said. “Before now, there hasn’t really been a space that allows those kinds of conversations to happen.”

Advancing prevention through data, partnerships, and community engagement

The idea for the center emerged when Stark and Fleckman discovered they were each planning to launch a center on violence: Stark’s focused on gender-based violence; Fleckman’s on firearm injury. As they talked, they realized that separating the two overlooked how different forms of violence intersect and share common drivers.

So instead, they decided to create a unified center that will examine all forms of violence through a broad public health lens, emphasizing prevention, systems change and community engagement.

The center’s work will focus on three interconnected priorities: developing new ways to integrate diverse data sources and better understand patterns and determinants of violence; investigating these drivers of violence while centering the perspectives of communities and survivors; and working with community partners to develop, evaluate, and scale evidence-based prevention and response strategies.

Stark and Fleckman also plan to build the center into a hub for education and collaboration. Plans include faculty networking events, research working groups, and annual symposia, as well as student research opportunities and postdoctoral training to prepare the next generation of violence-prevention researchers and practitioners.

The center’s first symposium, set for next February, will explore violence in digital spaces: cyberbullying, online exploitation, deepfakes, technology-facilitated abuse and the link between digital environments and mental health. A second symposium, planned for September 2027, will examine the role of digital and school environments in firearm violence. 

Judith Mwobobia, MPH, is the inaugural Writing Fellow for the Bursky School of Public Health Office of Communications. Mwobobia is a PhD student in public health sciences and previously was a journalist in Kenya. She writes profiles and helps cover the news of the school, with a particular focus on student- and education-related stories.