Virtual 2025 Translational Science Day Symposium

Beyond Thoughts and Prayers: Translating Gun Policy Science into Action to Reduce Firearm Violence

Tufts University School of Medicine’s virtual 2025 Translational Science Day symposium is scheduled for Friday, April 4! The theme of this year’s symposium is Beyond Thoughts and Prayers: Translating Gun Policy Science into Action to Reduce Firearm Violence. The symposium is free to attend, and registration is now open!

Gun policy is currently viewed as a highly polarized, highly contentious issue. It is characterized as a zero-sum, winner-take-all game, as opposed to one where everyone benefits. However, there is more common ground on gun policy than people are led to believe, as well as ways to build on existing consensus to reach actionable solutions to gun violence.

Featuring success stories at both the state and federal level, the symposium will explore how policymakers, academics, activists, and other stakeholders can help bridge the cultural and political divide to enact lasting and effective gun violence prevention policy.

Together, we can change the contentious, overly simplistic way that gun policy is currently characterized in America.

Scheduled speakers include:

• Rob Wilcox (Former Deputy Director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and Special Assistant to the President)
• Pastor Cory B. Brooks (CEO of Project HOOD)
• Christian Heyne (Vice President, Policy and Programs at Brady)
• Alia Harvey Quinn (Founder and Executive Director, Force Detroit)
• Jocelyn Benson (Michigan’s 43rd Secretary of State)
• Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian (Chief Medical Executive, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services)
• Dr. Cedric Dark (Emergency Physician and author of Under the Gun: An ER Doctor’s Cure for America’s Gun Epidemic)
• Michael Dandorph (President and CEO, Tufts Medicine)

Event Details
Friday, April 4
10:00AM–5:00PM EST via Zoom