CDC Grant Awarded to the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 1, 2016)  — The Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC) based at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health has received nearly $400,000 in funding to implement evidence-based programs to evaluate violence and injury related fatalities in Kentucky.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which approved the federal competitive grant, on behalf of his constituents at KIPRC. 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,” McConnell said. “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 fifth highest in unintentional injury fatalities and 12th highest in motor vehicle fatalities in the nation.

“KIPRC thanks Sen. McConnell for his support of this CDC award that focuses on the prevention of injuries in the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Terry Bunn, director of the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, said. “Over the next five years, the KIPRC 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.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Elizabeth Adams, elizabethadams@uky.edu