A letter from our new President, Shabbar I. Ranapurwala, PhD, MPH, BHMS

Hello Dear SAVIR Members,

As I sit down to write this welcome note, I am stealing words from my incoming president’s speech at the SAVIR 2026 conference. And as I did there, I want to start with Gratitude.

Gratitude to Christen Rexing and Sara Brandspigel for the countless hours they spend to help sustain SAVIR as a space where we can come together and not only share our work and stories but also find community. Gratitude to our eight founding Directors (Donald Marion, Philip Fine, Jess Kraus, Ellen MacKenzie, M. Margaret Knudson, Fred Rivara, Carol Runyan, and Craig Zwerling) and the support from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) who started the National Association of Injury Control Research Centers in September 1997, that was later renamed as the Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR) in April 2005. Gratitude to our immediate past President Cass Crifasi, and out-going past-president Ashley Brooks-Russell, and all past-presidents who came before, including and especially Stephen Hargarten who served as our first President from 2005-2007. Gratitude to our treasurers, secretaries, board members, committee chairs, committee members both past and present for their deep commitment to SAVIR. Gratitude, to our dear hosts of SAVIR 2026 conference, Mike Mello, Julie Bromberg, and their entire Injury Control COBRE staff, students, and faculty. Gratitude, to our generous and visionary Sponsors, Safe Kids worldwide, Kaiser Permanente Center for Gun Violence Research and Education, Fund for a Safer Future, The National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention, Johns Hopkins ICRC, Columbia ICRC, and all other donors who supported SAVIR, SAVIR awards, and student scholarships. Gratitude to Paul Bonta, Sharon Gilmartin, and Safe states for their tireless advocacy and leadership to support NCIPC and the field. And most of all, Gratitude, to each one of you, the researchers, practitioners, advocates, survivors, from all different stages of career, all of you who bring this Society to life – you are SAVIR’s vital force.

We dearly need this vital force in these difficult times. These are times ruled by fear, chaos, and uncertainty; distrust, deregulation, and deportation; loss of jobs, homes, and loss of relationships; high cost of living and stagnant wages that keep feeding inequity; racism imposed from the highest office; supported by billionaires hoarding world’s precious resources; terror, missiles, and manmade famines; and war.

But there is hope and what are we without hope anyway. I saw hope at SAVIR 2026 in RI in each one of you. Hope was evident in your big, important, injury and violence prevention ideas, that protect the public’s health. You all are the capeless heroes and heroines that the world needs right now. You came to injury and violence prevention not to become rich and famous, but to prevent, protect, and safeguard. The world has you, who thinks critically, works tirelessly, and puts the world’s betterment above your own.

And in return, you are so easy to please, as you feel rewarded by the simple things in life. Like feeling rewarded by seeing a child giggling while riding their bicycle in a bike lane and wearing a helmet, or when hearing the US President quoting your $48 billion firearm violence cost estimate in his address. You get teary eyed when a person tells you that they were revived by four doses of naloxone and woke up and received MOUDs instead of incarceration. You get emotional when you see a traumatized veteran thrive after timely linkage to VA care. You feel ecstatic when a child safety seat is perfectly installed. You feel almighty when a judge orders an abusive partner to relinquish their firearm. You almost have the Archimedes moment while looking at gut microbiome, handing out no strings attached cash transfers, and detecting activity in the Amygdala. And after all of this you somehow feel rewarded by building coalitions, community-based partnerships, trust, sustainability, engagement. And because you are so simple and easy to please is why I am truly honored and thrilled to be the chief of this tribe for the next year.

This community has offered so much to all of us, and to everyone else across the world. And when this community thrives the whole world will thrive, too. So, at SAVIR we want to see you thrive, not just at the annual conference, but year-round. SAVIR needs not just to be the community that makes you feel warm and fuzzy over the 3-4 days during the conference, but a devoted life-long community that you can lean on. Whether you are at one of the 24 SAVIR affiliated injury centers, or at a small college, or at a remote health department, or at a high school, our goal over the coming years is to make you feel connected, to add value to your work and careers year-round. We will try to make this possible not just through seminars and newsletters, but by providing support where you are. We will provide support to help you craft your ideas, strengthen your science, and kick start your careers. We will provide support to enhance your spheres of influence and connect those stable enriched spheres of influence so we can all find stability in the times of chaos. We will provide support so you don’t have to give up your dream jobs and ideas due to lack of funding or resources, and you can conduct good rigorous collaborative work. We want to provide support so that the few dollars that come to our field go further and the taxpayer and foundation dollars get ever higher returns on  investment. And we want to provide support so that we all can do better to prevent injuries and violence for all people and all types of inequities are reduced.

Lastly, some final observations and lessons from the SAVIR 2026 conference that I took home. We started the 2026 conference with our plenary speaker Megan Raney, Dean, Yale SPH, talking about centering our work in humanity, and ended with a panel discussion where panelists Shani Buggs, Andrew Papachristos, Anthony Braga, and Cass Crifasi, who talked about the importance of interdisciplinary collaborations in violence prevention. This all made me realize that we, humans, have eradicated many infectious diseases and have made big strides in controlling infections overall (HIV is a bit of outlier, but even there longevity and quality of life has improved); we have improved detection and treatment of cancers by many folds; we have reduced cardio vascular outcomes by many folds; we have improved quality of life in many areas; and we are trying to become better societies. Even though the pendulum swings, we are better people today than we were 3,5,10, 20 decades ago. But through all this there is one frontier, Violence, that we haven’t overcome. Violence is humanity’s final frontier, overcoming which, will take us closer to ideal, usually termed as God, Allah, Khuda, Bhagwan, Yaweh, Wahe-guru, or frankly, just a good person or human being. Unless we overcome this final frontier, we are the same as all other animals, ruled by our primal instincts rather than ruling it. Colleagues, I implore you to find connections so that humanity can overcome the scourge of violence. Keep the connections and collaborations you made at SAVIR or other such events active. Follow-up, collaborate, share, support, teach, and elevate good work and good people from all walks of life. I am deeply honored to be your incoming president and looking forward to this next year.

Thank you!

Shabbar I. Ranapurwala, PhD, MPH, BHMS