About Us

Together, we have the power to prevent injury and violence.

The Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center (HIPRC) is a worldwide leader in injury cause and prevention research.

Founded in 1985, we are affiliated with the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. We are committed to public engagement and strive to partner with impacted communities in achieving injury prevention and health equity across the lifespan.

HIPRC is a CDC-funded Injury Control Research Center (ICRC). The ICRC network is funded by the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control to find ways to prevent injury and violence. HIPRC is the only ICRC in the western half of the United States. HIPRC is a joint initiative of the University of Washington School of Medicine and Harborview Medical Center.

HIPRC Research priorities include:

Our Mission

Our interdisciplinary faculty and staff conduct research, train scientists, educate public health practitioners, and implement prevention programs to achieve injury-related health equity across the lifespan, because all people belong in the circle of human concern.

Who We Serve

HIPRC directs its research and programs toward those groups at greatest risk of injury: children, the elderly, the poor, people of color, residents of rural areas, and others who are disproportionately impacted by preventable injury.

We aim to reduce the rates of injury and death among these groups from unintentional events such as car crashes and drownings, and from purposeful acts such as suicide and murder. Efforts span the continuum of medical care, from epidemiological research to determine injury causes, to acute care of trauma patients, to rehabilitation in the hospital and home.

What We Do

  • Translate injury research into policy.
  • Engage in community-driven solutions to prevent injury and violence.
  • Develop and evaluate new injury prevention programs.
  • Use principles of biomechanics to study injury causes and treatment.
  • Develop more effective ways to resuscitate and treat injury victims.
  • Improve rehabilitation strategies.
  • Train new investigators in injury research and educate health professionals, policy makers, and the public about trauma’s magnitude, costs, and prevention.