Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States. Yet for years, pediatric firearm injury remained understudied, poorly tracked, and often misunderstood.
The Children’s Hospital Association Research in Gun-Related Events (CHARGE) collaborative was formed to change that. CHARGE brings together researchers and clinicians from children’s hospitals across the country to improve the evidence around pediatric firearm injuries and inform public policy and children’s health care.
“We knew firearm injury was a leading cause of death, but when we looked for solid pediatric data—especially beyond fatalities—it just wasn’t there,” said Dr. Pulcini. “That disconnect was the starting point.”
Six years later, CHARGE has become one of the most recognizable and productive research collaboratives in pediatric firearm injury in the nation.
Nationally coordinated research would be difficult, if not impossible, without the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA). CHA provides the infrastructure that allows CHARGE to function as a true multi-institutional research collaborative, including centralized coordination, access to large national data sets, and PhD-level biostatistical expertise.
“This work doesn’t happen on passion alone,” Pulcini said. “You need funding. You need people who know these data sources inside and out, who can move quickly and accurately. CHA makes that possible.”
By convening the experts, scheduling regular meetings, and providing dedicated statistical support, CHA removes barriers that often stall collaborative research.
Clinicians bring clinical insight and research questions; CHA supplies the technical backbone that turns those questions into credible, actionable evidence.
What began as a recognition of a critical blind spot has become one of pediatric research’s most focused efforts to close it.
With CHA’s support, CHARGE is helping ensure that the leading threat to children’s lives receives the sustained attention and evidence it demands.