The Firearm Violence Research Center (FVRC) at UC Davis launched earlier this month with the goal of conducting research and policy development on firearm violence, and on the connections between violence, substance abuse, and mental illness.

Led by Dr. Garen Wintemute, an emergency physician professor at UC Davis and a leading research and policy expert on firearm violence, the FVRC is the only state-funded firearms research center in the nation. In 2016, the Heising-Simons Foundation’s Community and Opportunity program supported FVRC’s development with a $224,949 grant.

In an interview with the LA Times earlier this week, Dr. Wintemute said that the center’s interests lie “in understanding the problem [of firearm violence] so that what’s done about it is based on solid evidence and can make a difference.” You can read the rest of the article here.