PIRE’s National Capital Region (NCR) Center conducts research, evaluation, and training to advance public health knowledge and inform practices and policy decisions. Since 2012, NCR staff have conducted impactful studies for the National Institutes of Health, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and Department of Justice, among other federal funders. We also have led numerous projects supported by foundations, states, and local governments.
NCR’s global portfolio can be described as falling within six broad categories:
- Injury and violence epidemiology and economic analysis. NCR staff conduct cost-benefit analyses of programs and policies, as well as safety and risk research on special populations (such as children and women).
- Traffic safety, with special focus on alcohol- and drug-impaired driving. NCR staff work on etiology, prevention, risk decision-making, evaluation of laws and programs, and impaired driving among special populations. Staff have conducted national roadside surveys, pedestrian surveys, and bar surveys that involved the collection of self-report data, breath tests, and oral fluid and blood samples. Staff have also conducted numerous field experiments to test behavioral interventions and laboratory studies to test basic processes in traffic safety and alcohol and drug use.
- Alcohol, marijuana, and opioid misuse and underage drinking. PIRE research on underage drinking and drug use examines individual and environmental interventions, epidemiology, costs, evaluations of programs and policies, return on investment, and criminal justice/law enforcement research and training.
- Training and technical assistance. NCR staff have managed large-scale training and technical assistance initiatives. One such effort was the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
- A broad examination of adverse childhood experiences. Studies include the incidence, cost and prevention of adverse childhood experiences, their long-term health effects, and programs to prevent and treat them.
- Alcohol and other substance abuse policy research. NCR staff have managed NIAAA’s Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS) project and support the SAMHSA’s Report to Congress on Underage Drinking since their inceptions. The APIS project has also added laws and policies pertaining to recreational cannabis use to its current offerings on alcohol policy.
Located in the Washington, DC, metro area, PIRE’s National Capital Region Center has personnel primarily in Beltsville, MD, and Santa Cruz, CA. Our combined expertise creates a broad capability to tackle large and complex research and science-to-practice initiatives. Our multidimensional expertise brings a critical perspective to the creation, assessment, and implementation of policies designed to improve the health of both U.S. citizens and citizens of the world.