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Yale public health dean addresses firearm violence in Woodson Lecture
As the nation grapples with ongoing gun violence, Megan L. Ranney, dean of Yale School of Public Health, is researching and advocating for innovative approaches to address this epidemic.
The University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences featured Ranney on Sept. 16 at the University Club as the 2025 Woodson Lecturer. The Woodson Lecture series was established in 2014 to bring national and international public health leaders to UofL.
Interim Dean Kathy Baumgartner and Interim Provost Katie Cardarelli, who also has served as UofL’s public health dean, welcomed Ranney. Cardarelli described her as an “international leader of public health innovation, whose work embodies her commitment to public health and the pioneering of a bold new strategic vision for the field linking science and society.”
Ranney, who also holds the C.-E.A. Winslow Professorship of Public Health (Health Policy) and is a professor of emergency medicine, spoke on bringing a systemic public health approach to the nation’s gun violence epidemic. Ranney's research focuses on injury prevention and using novel methods for detecting, intervening, and mitigating the after-effects of trauma. She has helped reframe firearm injury as a health problem within the United States and has become a national leader in bipartisan public health approaches to this epidemic.
“Firearms are now the leading cause of death for American youth,” Ranney said, speaking to a room filled with faculty, staff, students, and community members. “That is an awful statistic for us as a country and I believe, as a parent.”
View photos from the 2025 Woodson Lecture.
Ranney’s career trajectory from emergency room physician to public health pioneer began after years of tending to countless victims of gunshot wounds. The dean revealed her tipping point came after a case of teen suicide in the ER one July night. Firearm suicide is the leading cause of injury gun deaths in the United States.
Employing a public health approach to any issue involves four steps: gather data, identify risk and protective factors, develop and evaluate interventions, and implementation.
“This represents a powerful set of tools in any context or community,” she said. As an example, Ranney pointed to the successful public health campaign during the ‘70s and ‘80s that led to an eventual reduction in car crashes by more than 70 percent.
“One reason no progress has been made in firearm deaths is we have not systematically applied this approach,” Ranney said. “The four steps all require community at the center, conversations and data, and a willingness to try things to see what works.”
Ranney’s study concentrates on developing preventions, interventions and solutions on all levels: individual, relationship, community and societal. She cited interventions such as youth mentorship, hospital or community-based violence intervention programs, and even unexpected ideas such as creating an urban community garden which builds neighborhood connection and decreases stress, depression and even rates of violence.
Ranney ended with three key points: know your facts, share your story and act.
“The action can be showing up in the statehouse at Frankfort or working with local gun shops to educate them on firearm suicide risk factors or showing up and mentoring with Big Brothers Big Sisters or even working on that community garden,” Ranney said.
When it comes to reducing gun violence, Ranney says anyone can play a role, no matter how small.
