Home » KIPRC receives support to help address injury fatality rates

KIPRC receives support to help address injury fatality rates

Senator McConnell contacted federal agency in support of competitive grant

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced today that the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC) has received nearly $400,000 in funding to implement evidence-based programs to evaluate violence and injury related fatalities across the Commonwealth. Senator McConnell contacted the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, who approved the federal competitive grant, on behalf of his constituents at the agency. KIPRC is a partnership between the Kentucky Department for Public Health and the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health.

“This funding will help the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center continue its important work and enhance its programs aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect, traumatic brain injury, motor vehicle injury, and sexual assaults,” said Senator McConnell. “I was pleased to work with officials at KIPRC and the University of Kentucky in securing this competitive grant, which will allow researchers to address what is a major problem in Kentucky.”

In 2014, Kentucky ranked 5th highest in unintentional injury fatality rate and 12th highest in motor vehicle fatality rate in the nation.

“The Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (a collaboration between the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Department for Public Health) thanks Senator McConnell for his support of this CDC award that focuses on the prevention of injuries in the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Terry Bunn, PhD, Director of the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center. “Over the next five years, the Kentucky Violence and Injury Prevention program will partner with a multitude of agencies and organizations to implement, evaluate, and disseminate evidence-based programs to prevent child abuse and neglect, traumatic brain injuries, motor vehicle injuries, intimate partner violence/sexual violence, and falls among older adults.”

The competitive grant was awarded by the CDC and Prevention’s Core Violence and Injury Prevention Program.