Patrick Carter

Patrick Carter, MD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Equity at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the Department of Emergency Medicine at the School of Medicine. He directs the CDC-funded University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center and co-leads the NICHD-funded Firearm Safety among Children and Teens (FACTS) Consortium, focusing on evidence-based strategies to reduce firearm violence through healthcare systems.

Dr. Carter's research centers on emergency department-based interventions for firearm injury prevention, particularly targeting high-risk urban youth populations. His work examines youth violence, substance use, and the application of mobile health technologies to capture real-time behavioral data. Key interests include contextual factors driving adolescent firearm behaviors, racial disparities in violence exposure, and community-level interventions addressing social determinants of health.

His recent publications reveal a cohesive focus on firearm safety practices, violence epidemiology, and predictive modeling for injury risk. Scholarship spans household firearm storage, community violence mediation, and the intersection of public health crises like the opioid epidemic and COVID-19 with firearm-related behaviors. This work consistently emphasizes vulnerable populations and translational approaches from research to clinical practice.

Dr. Carter maintains significant research funding from NIDA, NIAAA, CDCP, and NICHD for violence prevention initiatives. He serves as Chair of the ACEP Trauma and Injury Prevention Section, Assistant Editor for the Annals of Emergency Medicine, and contributes to national firearm research agendas through the American College of Emergency Physicians technical advisory group.

As Director of the Injury Prevention Center, he oversees a multidisciplinary team implementing community-based violence prevention programs. His leadership in the FACTS Consortium drives collaborative research to develop evidence-based firearm safety protocols for children and teens across diverse settings.