Empire State Review Contributor 
BUFFALO, N.Y. — From June 6 to 8, the University at Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences hosted the 2025 Remembrance Conference, a national gathering aimed at addressing gun violence through a public health lens. The event brought together medical professionals, students, researchers, and community leaders to explore the role of healthcare in preventing firearm-related injuries and deaths.
The conference, co-organized with Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine, was born out of shared tragedy. Both institutions experienced mass shootings in recent years: the 2022 racially motivated attack at a Buffalo Tops supermarket that killed 10 people, and the 2023 shooting at MSU that left three dead and five injured. In response, deans Allison Brashear of UB and Aron Sousa of MSU launched the annual Remembrance Conference to foster healing and action.
“The core mission of academic medicine is to improve the health and well-being of our communities,” said Brashear. “The Jacobs School and the MSU College of Human Medicine are resolute in their mission to educate and advocate against the scourge of gun violence.”
This year’s conference featured keynote speakers such as Dr. Megan Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health and co-founder of the American Foundation for Firearm Injury Reduction in Medicine (AFFIRM), and Dr. Robert Gore, founder of the Kings Against Violence Initiative. Both emphasized the need for physicians to engage in advocacy and trauma-informed care.
Zeneta Everhart, a Buffalo Common Council member and mother of a survivor of the 2022 Tops shooting, delivered a powerful address during the Community Day portion of the event. She highlighted the importance of addressing everyday gun violence, not just mass shootings. “Gun violence is an epidemic,” Everhart stated. “We have to deal with the handguns that are in our streets all day, every day.”
The conference included workshops on topics such as mental health, suicide prevention, and the implementation of Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) in New York State. Participants also engaged in community activities like painting pavers for a Remembrance Garden and creating luminaries to honor victims of gun violence.
Dr. Patricia Logan-Greene, associate dean at UB’s School of Social Work and co-leader of the national Grand Challenge to Prevent Gun Violence, spoke about shifting the narrative around firearm injuries. “Instead of thinking of firearm violence in the United States as a criminal justice problem… we must start to think about it as a public health problem,” she said.
Organizers plan to continue the Remembrance Conference annually, alternating between Buffalo and East Lansing, to maintain momentum in the fight against gun violence. The event underscores the critical role that healthcare providers can play in advocacy, education, and community engagement to address this pressing issue.
