ABSTRACT The Mountain West region experiences a higher burden of injury mortality than many other parts of the nation and the region includes significant populations including rural and frontier populations, Latinos, American Indians, Veterans, and uninsured individuals. The Injury and Violence Prevention Center (IVPC) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus was established with the vision of contributing to the significant reduction in injury and its outcomes in Colorado, the Mountain West region, the U.S., as a function of high-quality research, education, and effective practice. We seek to accomplish this with three specific aims (1) Nurture cutting-edge prevention-focused research on injury and violence that responds to and guides practice in regional and national contexts; (2) Enhance skills of the current and future injury prevention workforce, engage related professionals and trainees across disciplines, and increase awareness of prevention strategies, and (3) Provide leadership in addressing injury problems by working with community members, practitioners, and policy makers. We will achieve these aims through objectives and activities organized into 3 cores: Administrative Core, Outreach Core, and Training and Education Core. As we work toward these aims, and our mission of driving evidence-based practice through research, education, training, and practice, we affirm these core values: (1) Advancing Health Equity; (2) Ethical Research and Practice; (3) Translation of Research to Practice, and (4) Collective Impact. The four proposed research projects address research priorities for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. As part of an established partnership working to address substance use and adverse childhood experiences (ACE’s), Project 1 will use a community- based approach to identify the social determinants of health- and substance use disorder-related needs of a rural, largely Latino community in Colorado. Project 2 will use a randomized control trial design to test messages to prevent firearm suicide among Veterans. Project 3 will identify social and structural level factors of suicidal ideation for Black girls and young women to inform and develop effective suicide prevention efforts. Project 4 will use an innovative methodological approach, and a nationally representative sample, to understand parents’ decisions regarding their children’s contact and/or collision sports participation. We are uniquely well-positioned to provide leadership in the region and nationally. We will build on our solid foundation of a team of nationally and internationally recognized injury prevention leaders and researchers and strong collaborative relationships with practice partners.