Leading national expert in gun violence prevention and research, Daniel Webster, ScD, will give a Special Grand Rounds presentation on Thursday, February 7, 2019, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm in Hosick Auditorium in the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The presentation is sponsored by the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.
Dr. Webster is the Director of the Center for Gun Policy and Research at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As its first Bloomberg Professor of American Health, an endowed position supported by the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, he leads new educational, research and practice efforts to reduce violence in the United States.
An American health policy researcher, Dr. Webster’s research and policy analyses over the past 25 years have helped shape local, state and federal policies on gun violence prevention. Nationally, his research on handgun purchaser licensing and background checks led to the introduction of federal legislation in the U.S. House and Senate in 2015, and was the basis for a national faith-based advocacy campaign. President Obama cited this research in his 2016 address to the nation on gun violence as evidence in support of universal background checks.
In Baltimore, Dr. Webster advises the Mayor’s Office, Police Department and Health Department on strategies to reduce gun violence. He co-chairs the advisory board for Safe Streets, a public health program to prevent shootings involving youth by changing behaviors and social norms related to gun violence. Dr. Webster has led Baltimore’s Homicide Review Commission and now leads the Johns Hopkins-Baltimore Collaborative for Violence Reduction, a partnership between Johns Hopkins, the Baltimore Police Department and State’s Attorney’s Office to promote data-driven innovation to reduce violence and improve police-community relations.