Margaret K. Formica, MSPH, PhD is an associate professor of public health and preventive medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of Urology and is also director of the Data and Analytics Concentration in the Master of Public Health Program, where she teaches several epidemiologic methods courses. Dr. Formica received her MSPH in epidemiology from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina and her PhD in epidemiology from Boston University School of Public Health.

Formica’s research areas have included the etiology of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, as well as the epidemiology of prostate cancer and renal cell carcinoma. Her research has encompassed the impact of mental health and quality of life on treatment choice in cancer care, as well as health outcomes among cancer patients.

Much of Formica’s recent work is in the area of gun violence education and research. She has co-authored an action agenda for academic public health around the issue of firearm violence and is currently leading a national task force in collaboration with the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health to develop curricular resources on gun violence. Formica is also working on several research projects related to the descriptive epidemiology of gun violence at the local level and the identification of individual and neighborhood factors associated with gun violence.

Bryce Hruska, PhD, investigates the mental health consequences of traumatic life events like violent injury or motor vehicle crashes. His research has evolved from understanding individual-level outcomes to examining the upstream community-level conditions that shape where trauma occurs. His foundational work with traumatic injury survivors—many of whom experienced gun violence—considered the acute psychosocial, behavioral, and physiological factors that contribute to longer-term mental health problems following injury. This work has expanded to include emergency medical service clinicians—the providers who administer first-line medical care to injury survivors—examining dynamic risk and protective factors associated with their mental health. At the community level, his NIH-funded research has moved upstream to examine neighborhood profiles defined by features of the built and social environment and their relationships with violent injury disparities. This work adopts a public health lens to understand violent injury as shaped by environmental context rather than individual risk factors alone. Dr. Hruska is an associate professor of public health at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and a faculty research affiliate of the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion. He received his PhD in experimental health psychology with a minor in quantitative methods from Kent State University.

Jaclyn Schildkraut, PhD, is the executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, where she leads a multidisciplinary research portfolio focused on understanding and reducing firearm violence in New York State and beyond. In this role, she oversees the Consortium’s research, grantmaking, and public engagement efforts; develops partnerships with researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and community organizations; and works to translate rigorous research into evidence-informed policy and practice. A nationally recognized expert on mass shootings and school safety, her research focuses on targeted violence prevention, emergency preparedness, and the experiences of individuals and communities affected by mass violence.

Schildkraut leads Sharing Information to Stop Mass Shootings (SISMS), a large-scale research initiative examining the behaviors, circumstances, and information-sharing processes that precede mass public shootings. The project has produced one of the most comprehensive databases of pre-attack behaviors associated with these events and a growing body of research focused on identifying opportunities for prevention and intervention. Findings from the project also are being translated into educational trainings designed to improve the recognition and reporting of concerning behaviors.

Her broader research has examined school emergency preparedness, the prevention and consequences of mass violence, behavioral indicators preceding attacks, and the experiences and long-term needs of survivors and affected communities. Schildkraut led the largest national study to date examining the effects of lockdown drills on students, educators, and school personnel, helping to identify evidence-based practices for building preparedness while minimizing unnecessary fear and anxiety. She also has conducted extensive research with mass shooting survivors and provided expert analysis to Canada’s Mass Casualty Commission, which investigated the April 2020 mass casualty event in Nova Scotia.

As executive director, Schildkraut also leads the Consortium’s efforts to strengthen the evidence base for firearm violence prevention across New York State. She oversees competitive research funding programs and works with state agencies, academic researchers, practitioners, and community partners to support research addressing pressing questions related to firearm violence and its prevention. Through these efforts, she seeks to bridge research, policy, and practice and ensure that evidence is accessible to those positioned to use it.

Schildkraut is the author or editor of numerous books on mass shootings, school safety, and firearms, including Mass Shootings: Media, Myths and Realities (2016), Columbine, 20 Years Later and Beyond: Lessons from Tragedy (2019), Lockdown Drills: Connecting Research and Best Practices for School Administrators, Teachers, and Parents (2022), and Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law (3rd ed., 2022). Her research has been published extensively in peer-reviewed journals across criminology, violence prevention, victimology, school safety, psychology, and public policy. Her research and expertise also are regularly sought by policymakers, practitioners, schools, survivors, and national and international media outlets, including CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, Associated Press, Reuters, and BBC News.