June 19, 2001
Firearm Injury Center at Penn Receives
a $1.2 Million Grant from the Joyce Foundation
(Philadelphia, PA)- The Firearm Injury Center at Penn
(FICAP) has received a grant from the Joyce Foundation
to expand its study of firearm violence. The main goal
of the grant is to formalize a center for the scientific
study of the reduction of firearm and violent injury
while enhancing ongoing research, advocacy, and dissemination
of scientific findings.
FICAP was originally established in the Division of
Traumatology and Surgical Critical Care, Department
of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine in 1997. FICAP is a natural evolution of
the ongoing clinical work and research of C. William
Schwab, MD, FACS, from the School of Medicine, and Therese
S. Richmond, PhD, RN, FAAN, from the School of Nursing.
The FICAP's mission is to create safer communities through
the systematic reduction of firearm injury and its repercussions
to the individual, family, and society. This mission
has been accomplished by empowering health care providers
with scientific data and successful strategies to reduce
firearm injuries within their communities. Established
within FICAP in March 1998, the Medical Professionals
as Advocates Program (MPAP) uses a community specific,
data-driven approach to design interventions to reduce
firearm violence in three small cities and rural regions
of eastern and north central United States. FICAP's
mission is further supported by the intellectual guidance
of a well-respected Advisory Board, comprised of national
leaders in medicine, law, journalism, criminology, philanthropy
and government.
FICAP's work is driven by the fact that nearly 100
Americans are killed by a firearm every day, making
firearms the second leading cause of injury-related
death in the United States. In 1998, 57% of the suicides
and 38% of the homicides were firearm related, totaling
30,700 firearm deaths that year. In 1999, 65% of all
murder victims were killed by a firearm. In the vast
majority of both firearm suicides and firearm homicides,
the handgun is the predominant weapon. While handguns
comprise only one third of all firearms, they account
for two thirds of firearm crime, over 80% of all firearm
homicides, and approximately 70% of all firearm suicides.
FICAP's work over the last three years has made it
the core center for the study of firearm injury at the
University of Pennsylvania and a national leader in
strengthening the ability of healthcare professionals
to address firearm violence as a public health issue.
By supporting the firearm injury center's commitment
to interdisciplinary research and continuing advocacy,
dissemination, and center development, the grant awarded
by the Joyce Foundation will further expand the science
of understanding and reducing firearm violence.
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