Fred Rivara (born May 17, 1949) is a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Seattle Children's Hospital Seattle Children's (previously Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center; previously Children's Orthopedic Hospital) is a children's hospital in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. The hospital specializes ...

known for his research into the relationship between gun ownership and

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence against a person committed with the use of a firearm to inflict a gunshot wound. Gun violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable ...

in the 1990s. Rivara has also researched

bicycle helmets A bicycle helmet is a type of helmet designed to attenuate impacts to the head of a cycling, cyclist in collisions while minimizing side effects such as interference with peripheral vision. History History of designs A cycle helme ...

intimate partner violence Intimate partner violence (IPV) is domestic violence by a current or former spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. IPV can take a number of forms, including physical abuse, physical, verbal abuse, verb ...

, and

alcohol abuse Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of alcohol-related substance abuse. This spectrum can range from being mild, moderate, or severe. This can look like consumption of more than 2 drinks per day on average for men, or more than 1 drink per ...

, among other topics.

Education

Rivara earned his

doctor of medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

in 1974 from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. In 1980, he completed a master's in public health at the University of Washington.

Career

Rivara's career spans 30 years. His research has covered topics such as alcohol abuse and

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

, and he has been a vocal advocate for the use of bicycle helmets to reduce injury. Rivara says that his work has helped to drastically reduce the number of children who are injured while riding bikes. He founded the Harborview Injury and Research Center in Seattle and the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention. At the University of Washington, Rivara is vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics in the

School of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

and chief of the Division of General Pediatrics and. Rivara was also editor-in-chief of the journal ''

JAMA Pediatrics ''JAMA Pediatrics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association. It covers all aspects of pediatrics. The journal was established in 1911 as the ''American Journal of Diseases of Children'' and renamed i ...

'' and then ''

JAMA Network Open ''JAMA Network Open'' is a monthly open access medical journal published by the American Medical Association covering all aspects of the biomedical sciences. It was established in 2018 and the founding editor-in-chief was Fred Rivara (University ...

''.

Gun violence research

In the 1990s, Rivara received funding from the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

to research the relationship between gun ownership and gun violence. His research found that the chances of homicide or suicide increase threefold when there is a gun present in a home, while the risk of suicide for teens increases as much as tenfold. Rivara and his colleagues published their research in the ''

New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. Founded in 1812, the journal is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals. Its 2023 impact factor was ...

'' in 1993 in a series of articles on their findings. “ ur researchunderwent peer review and was thought to be very solid and worthwhile research,” Rivara told PRI program The Takeaway in a 2015 interview. “The CDC stood by our research—they had funded it and they stood by it. Unfortunately, it raised the attention of the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

, who then worked with pro-gun members of Congress to essentially stop funding firearm research.” The NRA then lobbied Congress, saying that since guns aren't a disease, CDC funds should not be allocated to them. A bill passed that prevented the CDC from setting aside funds for gun research.

Awards

Some awards Rivara has received include: * Charles C. Shepard Science Award from the

*Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section Distinguished Career Award *

American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is the largest professional association of pediatricians in the United States. It is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, and maintains an office in Washington, D.C. The AAP has published hundreds of poli ...

, Section on Injury and Poison Prevention, Physician Achievement Award *UW School of Public Health Distinguished Alumni Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivara, Fred American pediatricians Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Washington School of Public Health alumni University of Washington faculty Living people Gun violence researchers 1949 births Members of the National Academy of Medicine