---
title: Doctoral Student Helps Track D.C. Gun Violence Trends
date: 2023-06-15T10:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/doctoral-student-helps-track-d-c-gun-violence-trends"
section: Articles
---
# Doctoral Student Helps Track D.C. Gun Violence Trends

*June 15, 2023* — by [Allison Eatough ’97](/author/allison-eatough-97)


> Epidemiologist’s Firearm Injury Dashboard Merges Public Health, Public Safety

*Getty Images 1248482857 1920x1080 — An ambulance stops outside the emergency medicine entrance at The George Washington University Hospital, one of seven local emergency rooms providing data to a new dashboard for tracking firearm injuries that was developed by a UMD grad student.*

With gunshot injuries in Washington, D.C. up nearly 20% from this time last year, a new analysis tool developed by a University of Maryland School of Public Health doctoral student is helping district leaders detect surges in gun violence, monitor at-risk groups and understand trends.

Led by Kenan Zamore Ph.D. '26, an epidemiologist with the [D.C. Department of Health](https://dchealth.dc.gov/) (DC Health), the [Firearm Injury Surveillance Through Emergency Rooms (FASTER)](https://dataviz1.dc.gov/t/OCTO/views/DCFASTERDASHBOARD/LandingPage?%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3Adisplay_count=n&%3AshowVizHome=n&%3Aorigin=viz_share_link&%3Aembed=yes&%3Atoolbar=no) dashboard pulls diagnostic data from D.C.’s seven hospital emergency rooms, including the age and ethnicity of victims and the ward and ZIP code where the victims live.


*Kenan Zamore headshot*


*firearm injury emergency room visits charts — The new dashboard provides geographic and demographic data about locations of incidents and victims.*



**Sidebar note:**

The FASTER dashboard is one of [several projects](https://today.umd.edu/search?categories=120-initiative) UMD faculty and students are leading related to gun violence—grouped under the [120 Initiative to Reduce Gun Violence](https://consortium.org/120-initiative-gun-violence-prevention/). The D.C.-area coalition of higher education institutions was launched in 2022 by UMD President Darryll J. Pines and George Mason University President Gregory Washington to focus research expertise on this pressing societal challenge. Its name honors the number of people who die on average daily from shootings in the U.S. Among UMD’s array of gun-violence focused scholarship:

- Joseph Richardson Jr., the Joel and Kim Feller Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology, pioneered an intervention strategy that begins as soon as gunshot victims are wheeled into the emergency room. He talks with patients in their hospital beds, learning their stories and beginning the process of connecting them with resources like legal aid or mental health counseling.
- Rod K. Brunson, professor and interim chair of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, focuses on the relationship between law enforcement and the community. One of his recent studies examined how place-based factors influence the decisions law enforcement officers make.
- Thomas Abt, associate research professor of criminology and criminal justice, founded the Center for the Study and Practice of Violence Reduction, aka the Violence Reduction Center. The VRC gathers the most rigorous research on community violence, including partnering with cities on evidence-based crime reduction plans, then synthesizes that research and makes it available to all, free of charge and in accessible, easy-to-use formats..
- Rabiatu Barrie, assistant professor in the Department of Family Science, is the principal investigator for Acute Family Treatment and Emergency Reparation (A.F.T.E.R.), a hospital-based, short-term family intervention for youth who have been injured by gunfire.





**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Behavioral and Community Health](https://today.umd.edu/topic/behavioral-and-community-health), [Epidemiology and Biostatistics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/epidemiology-and-biostatistics), [Public Safety](https://today.umd.edu/topic/public-safety), [Gun Violence Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/gun-violence-research), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [School of Public Health](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-public-health)