Identifying how Veterans store firearms and how it relates to suicide risk
Official title: Identifying and Characterizing Firearm Storage Practices; Causal Links to Veteran Suicide
Funded at VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System · NIH-11337895 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study using language models to map how Veterans store firearms and see how these practices relate to suicide outcomes.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Aurora, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | June 1, 2026 |
| Project end | May 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 1I01RD000592-01A1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11337895 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
VHA/VA patients who are Veterans with firearm access.
✕Less likely to help
Veterans without firearm access or those not in the VHA system may not benefit from this analysis.
What this research studies
This project will use natural language processing to identify Veterans with access to firearms and describe their storage practices. Researchers will link these patterns to mortality data from the National Death Index to understand which storage behaviors are associated with different outcomes. The goal is to uncover storage patterns that could inform targeted, practical prevention steps for Veterans at risk. The work focuses on improving how we tailor firearm safety guidance to Veterans using real-world data.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: It could reveal storage behaviors that reduce suicide risk and guide more effective, Veteran-centered prevention strategies.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work shows that storage practices are linked to risk, and this NLP-based approach aims to provide deeper, cohort-specific insights.
Where this research is happening
-
VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System
Aurora, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Simonetti, Joseph a — VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System
- Study coordinator: Simonetti, Joseph a
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.