Remembrance Conference

Gradient colors have text: "Remembrance Conference 2025. Medical students and faculty taking action on the epidemic of firearm violence through public health. Buffalo, NY, on July 6-8, 2025." Logos for Michigan State University and the Jacobs School are at the bottom.

Conference Details

Remembrance Conference 2025 Registration

Registration is now closed.

Community Day Segment
Community members are invited to join us for our Community Day portion of the conference, taking place June 7 from 2–8 p.m.

Please register - Remembrance Conference 2025 Community Day

Call for Proposals

We invite you to submit proposals for sessions that provide colleagues across our communities with opportunities to:

  • Engage in meaningful discussions on pressing issues related to firearm violence and the medical field, including its impact on physician training, practicing physicians and medical educators.
  • Share resources, tools, programs and best practices for educating others about firearm violence. We want to learn how your institution is addressing this critical issue.
  • Gain new perspectives and insights by networking with diverse professionals and leaders in the field.

We welcome submissions on a broad range of topics. This is your chance to elevate an important issue, showcase an innovative project and share your experiences and lessons learned to benefit peers and leaders across our communities.

Don’t miss this opportunity to contribute to the conversation — submit your proposal today!

Submission deadline: EXTENDED to May 19, 2025.

All accepted presentations require speakers to register for the conference and pay a nominal registration fee. 

About the Conference

With our June 2025 Remembrance Conference, we aim to engage teams of medical students and faculty in conversations, curriculum and programming that employ a public health approach to reduce firearm injuries and fatalities.

Gun violence is the number one killer of children in the United States. Therefore, a public health approach is the most effective way to decrease the number of people dying from guns, particularly when we start thinking about preventing suicide and community shootings.

Participants from multiple medical schools across the nation will hear from medical and trauma experts, government officials, medical students and, most importantly, from each other. A major focus of the conference is advocacy — including how physicians and students can best explain public health solutions to policymakers.

Representatives from the University at Buffalo, Michigan State University, and invited national speakers and experts — along with community members — will discuss gun violence through a public health lens. 

In remembrance of those affected by gun violence, we aim to honor their memory through meaningful dialogue and action.

The Jacobs School partnered with Michigan State University (MSU) in February 2024 to present a Remembrance Conference at MSU. Participants had opportunities to engage with national trauma experts, work on advocacy skills with elected officials and remember those who have been lost to gun violence. In 2025, we look forward to another productive event.

Schedule

The three-day conference will take place on June 6-8, 2025 at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, 955 Main St., Buffalo, NY.

It will feature discussions on:

  • mental health and addressing suicide
  • advocacy training and activity
  • the physician’s role in preventing firearm violence

It will also include plenary sessions, remembrance sessions, meals and a reception, and conversations with medical students.

Friday, June 6, 2025

Time Description
3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Check In and Optional Medical School Tours
5:00 p.m. Conference Welcome
6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Welcome Dinner by the Salty Chefs
7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Keynote Speaker: Megan Ranney, MD, MPH

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Time Description
8:00 to 8:30 a.m.   Breakfast 
8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Plenary Session: Robert Gore, MD
9:30 to 9:45 a.m. Break
9:45 to 10:45 a.m.

Concurrent Workshops:

  • “Building Resilience: Why Hospitals Should Invest in Trauma Recovery Centers for Gun Violence Survivors” by: Paula Kovanic Spiro
  • “Gun Violence Education by Medical Students for Medical Students” by: Kerryann Koper, Mikaela Hastings, Anna Fretz, and Miranda Berkebile
10:45 to 11:45 a.m.

Concurrent Workshops:

  • “Trigger Points: A Scoping Review of Posttraumatic Stress Trajectories Following Direct Exposure to Mass Shooting Events” by: Rachel Stephens
  • Title TBD — Dr. Richard Miskimins
12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Lunch by Tops
1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Advocacy Session
2:00 to 2:30 p.m. Break / Community Registration 
2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Plenary Session: Zeneta B. Everhart
3:30 to 3:45 p.m. Break 
3:45 to 5:45 p.m.

Community Day Breakout Sessions:

  • Paint pavers for our Remembrance Garden
  • Open Mic: Share your poems, songs, essays, and stories on the topic of gun violence
  • Connect with community partners at our tabling fair
  • Create luminaries in memory of those we’ve lost
  • Presentation: “Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO): a new public health tool to prevent gun violence in New York State​” by Gale Burnstein, MD, MPH, FAAP and Ryan Belka, JD
  • And more thoughtful and engaging opportunities
6:00 to 6:45 p.m. Dinner by Jackson’s Soulfood
7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Remembrance Service

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Time Description
8:00 to 8:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Plenary Session: Patricia Logan-Greene, MSSW, PhD
9:30 to 9:45 a.m. Break
9:45 to 10:45 a.m. Conference Conversation/ What do we bring back?
10:45 to 11:00 a.m. Closing

Speakers

Registration and Hotel Information

Registration includes:

  • two dinners
  • two breakfasts
  • lunch
  • plenary Speakers
  • face time with elected officials
  • admission to all programming

Registration is now closed.

Residence Inn by Marriott Buffalo Downtown
620 Delaware Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14202
716-247-5252

 (Block closes May 23)

Sponsors

Be a Sponsor and Further Our Cause

Are you interested in sponsoring the conference to support our aim of reducing firearm injuries and deaths via a public health approach?

With your involvement, you can make a meaningful impact while helping commemorate those who have been lost to gun violence. 

Sign up to be an event sponsor >>

Thank you to our conference sponsors:

Our Planning Team

CME Credits

Accreditation

The University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Certification

The University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences designates this live activity for a maximum of 7.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

In the News: Learn More

Local and National News

BTPM NPR — The Remembrance Conference 2025: Confronting Gun Violence Through Medicine and Mental Health

Three people from UB — Allison Brashear, MD, MBA; David Milling, MD; and Patricia Logan-Greene, MSSW, PhD — sit down with What’s Next podcast host Jay Moran to discuss the Remembrance Conference’s mission, the critical role of physicians in gun violence prevention, and the broader mental health implications tied to this national crisis.

Spectrum News 1 — University at Buffalo, Michigan State University Tackle Gun Violence Prevention in Medical Field

According to the American Public Health Association, 48,000 people die each year from guns. Over the next few days, medical professionals, students and researchers from around the nation are gathering here to honor those lives lost. The reason behind the remembrance event is personal for the two schools putting it on.

WGRZ — Remembrance Conference Set to Tackle Gun Violence

The U.B. Jacobs School of Medicine is getting ready to host the Remembrance Conference 2025 next month. It's a time for medical professionals, students and faculty members to talk about gun violence prevention and share experiences.

UB News Stories