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Project: Weapons-Related Injury Surveillance System (WRISS)

 

Organization: Bureau of Community Health and Prevention, Office of Statistics and Evaluation

The WRISS Program was initially created in 1987 with funding for 5 staff members. All federal funding for research that might lead to the banning of guns was banned in 1997 and thus the state of MA stepped in to provide funding to support the WRISS program; however, funding was only provided to support a single staff member to carry on the work of a team of 5 dedicated staff members. The WRISS database is currently undergoing its first infrastructure update in nearly three decades. The intern will have the opportunity to support the work of this understaffed data system and be an integral part of its revival and modernization. 

The student will learn about violence prevention epidemiology with focus on weapons-related injuries (guns and sharp instruments) by supporting the work of the Weapons-Related Injury Surveillance System (WRISS) Epidemiologist and tasks to maintain the WRISS Database. Student will support the work of the WRISS Program via literature reviews (internal documents, published literature), data entry tasks, quality assurance tasks, data cleaning, data stewardship, and analyzing WRISS data from past years. Instruction and regular support will be provided to teach the student skills that are new to them. WRISS analyses will both be to support the work of the WRISS Program and can also be conducted for additional school-related projects (i.e. thesis or capstone work). Student will have the opportunity to attend meetings with the Child and Youth Violence Prevention Unit to learn how epidemiologic data is operationalized and informs direct action. Student will have the opportunity to present analyses with the Child and Youth Violence Prevention Unit, at the semester Expo, and at other forums that the student identifies as appropriate venues to share public health research. Student will also regularly have opportunities to network with individuals in the Child and Youth Violence Prevention Unit, the Injury Surveillance Program, and the Bureau of Community Health and Prevention via lunches, meetings, and introductions. The student will gain experience in violence prevention epidemiology with a focus on weapons-related injuries (guns and sharp instruments). The student will gain experience in maintaining public health surveillance infrastructure, stewarding data, and conducting data analysis. The student will also learn how research data directs public health action through direct collaboration with the Child and Youth Violence Prevention Unit. The student will gain exposure to a multitude of public health careers, from research to implementation, through the WRISS Program and the stakeholders from research to implementation that WRISS regularly collaborates with.

Skills Required: Data Entry, Excel, SAS (cleaning and analysis; class experience will suffice), and report writing
Technology Required: Student will need a laptop with access to SAS Studio
Work Arrangement: Hybrid *note: technology requirements may require this internship be done in the office due to security requirements* 
Hours Per Week: 15
Preferred Eligibility: Students in a Masters Program
Preferred Academic Experience:  All current public health or relevant field master’s students with coursework in epidemiology, biostatistics, and/or data analysis are welcome to apply.