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Sonali Rajan to lead gun safety research at Everytown
She is a nationally recognized expert in gun violence prevention, whose research focuses on protecting children from its ill effects.
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Malvika Choudhary - Wed, 18, Jun 2025
- 15:10 EDT
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Sonali Rajan, Professor of Health Promotion and Applied Educational Psychology, speaking at the 2024 National Research Conference for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms / Photo: Nick Klein
Columbia University professor Sonali Rajan was named the new senior research director at Everytown Research, the research arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, a US based non-profit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence.
Professor of health promotion and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, Rajan will assume the position in summer 2025 while on sabbatical from the college.
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A nationally recognized expert in gun violence prevention and child health, Rajan brings over a decade of interdisciplinary research experience to the nonprofit. She is expected to lead Everytown’s data-driven efforts to prevent gun violence through rigorous, evidence-based research.
“We are thrilled to welcome a deeply respected leader in the gun violence prevention research community,” said Nick Suplina, senior vice president of law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety. “Her expertise will be instrumental in taking our team’s groundbreaking research to new heights, will deepen our understanding of the gun violence epidemic, and will accelerate life-saving solutions at a pivotal time.”
Rajan’s research has focused on firearm violence as an adverse childhood experience and on the development of safe environments that support children’s learning and health. Her work is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most recently, she served on a National Academies committee studying the effects of active shooter drills on children’s health and well-being.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to step into this leadership role at this moment and with such an extraordinary team of colleagues,” Rajan said. “Our collective research field has done so much over the last few years to advance meaningful progress on gun violence across the nation — an issue that tragically impacts thousands of Americans every year and is the current leading cause of death among children and teens in the U.S.”
In her new role, Rajan will oversee a multidisciplinary team, shape strategic research initiatives, and serve as a public voice for the organization’s findings.
Rajan will remain on faculty at Teachers College during her time at Everytown. TC president Thomas Bailey welcomed the announcement, stating, “For more than twelve years, Rajan has made significant contributions to the TC community and beyond, profoundly shaping our understanding of gun violence, awareness, and prevention — one of the most pressing global challenges of our time. We eagerly anticipate the impactful work she will accomplish in her new role at Everytown.”
KerryAnn O’Meara, provost and dean at Teachers College, added, “Sonali Rajan’s data-driven, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and engaged approach to gun violence prevention and research is groundbreaking. TC is so proud of the leadership role she will take on with Everytown for Gun Safety, which will accelerate the ability of such research to change policies, communities and lives.”
In addition to her position at Teachers College, Rajan holds a secondary appointment in the department of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She is also co-director of the Columbia Center for Injury Science and Prevention and served as the inaugural president of the Research Society for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms from 2022 to 2024.
“Along with hundreds of scientists across the country, I remain deeply committed to addressing this devastating public health and safety crisis,” Rajan said. “I am so excited to have this opportunity to actively support Everytown's mission and movement.”
Rajan earned her doctor of education in health and behavior studies and a master’s of science in applied statistics from Columbia University. She holds a bachelor's of science in biomedical engineering from Cornell University.
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