WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) led 24 of their colleagues, including U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, in urging the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to renew a recently-lapsed funding opportunity for gun violence research, which was initially established in the wake of the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. In a letter to NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, the senators cited NIH leadership and researchers who noted the importance of this funding in furthering the agency’s mission to promote and improve health outcomes, and in understanding “how science can save lives.” Despite calls from numerous public health experts to renew the program, the funding opportunity closed on January 8th, 2017, and the NIH has yet to release a timeline for its decision on renewal of the funding.

“With 93 Americans dying per day from gun-related fatalities, it is critical that NIH dedicate a portion of its resources to the public health consequences of gun violence,” wrote the senators. “We strongly urge you to renew the gun violence research program as soon as possible.” 

Following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, President Obama directed the Department of Health and Human Services to research the causes of gun violence and how it can be prevented, resulting in the creation of a new funding opportunity to support research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), among other parts of the NIH. From 2014 to 2017, the NIH provided $18 million to 22 projects to study gun violence, which the American Medical Association has described as a “‘public health crisis’ requiring a comprehensive public health response and solution.”  

Gun violence, a leading cause of death in the United States, has historically been underfunded and understudied, due in part to the Dickey Amendment, which has effectively banned federal funding for research on the issue at the CDC. In their letter, the senators noted that while the amendment does bar research promoting gun control, it does not prohibit objective, scientific inquiries into prevention.

In addition to Senators Murphy, Warren, Cortez Masto, and Blumenthal, the letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

Full text of the letter is available online and below:

Dr. Francis S. Collins
Director
National Institutes of Health
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20892

We are writing today to urge the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to renew a recently-lapsed funding opportunity for firearm violence research.

Gun Violence in the U.S. is “Underfunded and Understudied”

Every year, over 30,000 Americans die in gun-related fatalities.[1] In 2017 alone, over 11,900 people have died, and over 24,300 people have been injured, from gun violence. Our nation has experienced 278 mass shootings, including the horrific massacre in Las Vegas, and over 1,500 people have been injured by accidental shootings.[2] Gun-related fatalities have surpassed motor vehicle deaths in 21 states[3], and the American Medical Association has described gun violence in America as a “‘public health crisis’ requiring a comprehensive public health response and solution.”[4]

In spite of the toll of gun violence on American’s health and safety, a dearth of scientific research has hindered efforts to reduce gun-related fatalities and injuries. The Dickey Amendment, which has been largely interpreted as a congressional ban on federal funding for gun research at CDC, has played a large role in perpetuating the gun violence research gap.[5] The Dickey Amendment only prohibits research “to advocate or promote gun control”—not objective scientific inquiries into gun violence prevention[6]—yet it has had a chilling effect on gun-related studies. When compared to other leading causes of death, gun violence is “substantially underfunded and understudied…based on mortality rates for each cause.”[7] 

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, Gun Violence Research is in the “Sweet Spot” of NIH’s Efforts to “Save Lives”

Following the shooting of 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012[8], President Obama directed the Department of Health and Human Services to “conduct or sponsor research into the causes of gun violence and the ways to prevent it.”[9] In response, the NIH issued a new funding opportunity for “Research on the Health Determinants and Consequences of Violence and its Prevention, Particularly Firearm Violence.” The funding opportunity supported research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), among other segments of NIH.[10] 

During a 2015 hearing on mental health challenges in the U.S., Dr. Thomas Insel, the then-Director of the NIMH, touted the funding opportunity as a critical piece of the NIH’s efforts to “understand how science can save lives.”[11] Discussing projects to “assess risk for someone when they have made a suicide attempt” and to develop an understanding of “mental pathways of violence,” Dr. Insel described the funding opportunity as “in the sweet spot” of the NIH’s mission to promote and improve health.[12] 

Renewal of the Funding Opportunity Is Critical to Our Nation’s Efforts to Combat Gun Violence 

Researchers agreed that the funding opportunity was essential to combatting the public health ramifications of gun violence. According to one clinical psychologist, the funding opportunity was “mission critical to bringing me into a new area [of gun research].”13 Another argued that “[i]t would have been much harder…to get funding for [gun] research without that specific program announcement on firearm violence.[13] Ultimately, from 2014 to 2017, the NIH provided $18 million to 22 projects studying gun violence.[14] The funding opportunity closed on January 8, 2017. Numerous public health experts have urged the NIH to renew the program.[15]

Given Dr. Insel’s promotion of the gun violence funding opportunity as in the “sweet spot” of the NIH’s efforts to “save lives” – and the devastating impact of gun violence across the country – we were surprised by recent reports that the NIH may not renew the program. According to Science Magazine, renewal of the funding opportunity is “under consideration.” The NIH is “evaluating the current program’s outcomes” and has no timeline set “for a decision on its renewal.”[16]

Thanks in part to NIH-funded projects, the life expectancy of the average American increased by eight years between 1970 and 2013; heart disease deaths fell by 67.5% from 1969 to 2013; and cancer deaths decreased by 15% from 2003 to 2012.[17] With 93 Americans dying per day from gun-related fatalities, it is critical that NIH dedicate a portion of its resources to the public health consequences of gun violence. We strongly urge you to renew the gun violence research program as soon as possible. 

Sincerely,

 

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[1] David E. Stark, MD, MS, and Nigam H. Shah, MBBS, PhD, “Funding and Publication of Research on Gun Violence and Other Leading Causes of Death,” Journal of the American Medical Association (January 3, 2017) (online at http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2595514).

[2] Gun Violence Archive, “Gun Violence Archive 2017” (accessed September 18, 2017) (online at http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/).

[3] Adrienne Lafrance, “Gun Deaths May Not Eclipse Traffic Fatalities Just Yet,” The Atlantic (February 8, 2016) (online at https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/02/guns-cars/460431/).

[4] American Medical Association, “AMA Calls Gun Violence ‘A Public Health Crisis,’” (June 14, 2016) (online at https://www.ama-assn.org/ama-calls-gun-violence-public-health-crisis).

[5] Charles C. Branas, PhD, Andrew Flesher, PhD, Margaret K. Formica, PhD, et al, ‘Academic Public Health and the Firearm Crisis: An Agenda for Action,” American Journal of Public Health (February 8, 2017) (online at http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303619); Bryan Schatz, “Congress Gutted Researchers’ Ability to Study Gun Violence. Now They’re Fighting Back,” Mother Jones (January 20, 2017) (online at http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/gun-violence-research-public-health/).

[6] Rita Rubin, MA, “Tale of 2 Agencies: CDC Avoids Gun Violence Research But NIH Funds It,” Journal of the American Medical Association (April 26, 2016) (online at http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2513131).

[7] David E. Stark, MD, MS, and Nigam H. Shah, MBBD, PhD, “Funding and Publication of Research on Gun Violence and Other Leading Causes of Death,” Journal of the American Medical Association (January 3, 2017) (online at http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2595514#jld160037f1).

[8] “Connecticut Shootings Fast Facts,” CNN (December 14, 2016) (online at http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/07/us/connecticut-shootings-fast-facts/index.html).

[9] President Barack Obama, Presidential Memorandum—Engaging in Public Health Research on the Causes and Prevention of Gun Violence (January 16, 2013) (online at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/16/presidential-memorandum-engaging-public-health-research-causes-and-preve).

[10] Department of Health and Human Services, “Research on the Health Determinants and Consequences of Violence and its Prevention, Particularly Firearm Violence (R21)” (issued September 23, 2013) (online at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-13-369.html).

[11] Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, “Mental Health Challenges,” C-SPAN (October 29, 2015) (online at https://www.c-span.org/video/?329024-1/hearing-mental-health-challenges-us&start=4509).

[12] Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, “Mental Health Challenges,” C-SPAN (October 29, 2015) (online at https://www.c-span.org/video/?329024-1/hearing-mental-health-challenges-us&start=4509).

[13] Meredith Wadman, “NIH quietly shelves gun research program,” Science Magazine (September 13, 2017) (online at http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/09/nih-quietly-shelves-gun-research-program).

[14] Meredith Wadman, “NIH quietly shelves gun research program,” Science Magazine (September 13, 2017) (online at http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/09/nih-quietly-shelves-gun-research-program).

[15] Department of Health and Human Services, “Research on the Health Determinants and Consequences of Violence and its Prevention, Particularly Firearm Violence (R21)” (issued September 23, 2013) (online at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-13-369.html).

[16] Meredith Wadman, “NIH quietly shelves gun research program,” Science Magazine (September 13, 2017) (online at http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/09/nih-quietly-shelves-gun-research-program).

[17] The average lifespan increased from 70.8 years to 78.8 years over this time period.  National Institutes of Health, “NIH: Turning Discovery Into Health—Our Health” (online at https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/about-nih/impact/impact-our-health.pdf).