Wednesday, November 13, 2019, 5:00 – 7:00, Amp I (S2-102), UMMS

A truth: firearm violence is one of the most complex public health issues of our times, it is an epidemic and a public health threat. According to the CDC, there were 39,773 firearm deaths in the United States in 2017. Is understanding the biological, psychological, racial, ethnic, cultural factors, and addressing the lethal impact of gun culture in America enough to stop gun violence?

Join us as David Hemenway, Ph.D., author of “Private Guns Public Health” addresses gun violence as a public health concern and discusses his approach to policy reform with the aim of preventing future tragedies.

Dr. Hemenway is an economist and Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a former James Marsh Visiting Professor at the University of Vermont.  He is Director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, former director of the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center and former President of the Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research.  He received the Excellence in Science award from the American Public Health Association and fellowships from the Pew, Soros and Robert Wood Johnson foundations.  In 2012 he was recognized by the CDC as one of the twenty “most influential injury and violence professionals over the past 20 years.” In 2013 he received a Commissioner’s Commendation from the Boston Police Commissioner for exemplary services to the people of Boston.  Dr. Hemenway has written over 250 journal articles—more than 100 on firearm violence-- and five books including Private Guns Public Health (U Michigan Press, 2006, 2017)) and While We Were Sleeping: Success Stories in Injury and Violence Prevention (U California Press 2009).  Dr. Hemenway has received ten Harvard teaching awards.

Book signing begins at 5:00.  Books will be available to purchase.

Sponsors: Department of Surgery, and the Humanities in Medicine Committee of the Lamar Soutter Library