Rebecca Cunningham, MD

Dr. Rebecca Cunningham is vice president for research at the University of Michigan, where she is responsible for fostering the excellence and integrity of research across all three campuses. As vice president, Cunningham leads the Office of Research, whose mission is to catalyze, support and safeguard U-M research. She has vast experience as a researcher, administrator, educator and clinician, including more than 20 years spent as an emergency medicine physician at U-M and Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan. She is the William G. Barsan Collegiate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the U-M Medical School, as well as Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education at the U-M School of Public Health. Dr. Cunningham served as the associate vice president for research-health sciences from 2017-2019, where she oversaw the portfolio of research faculty affairs, and partnered with colleagues across campus to facilitate and energize the university’s research agenda. Over the course of her career, Dr. Cunningham’s research has focused on injury prevention, opioid overdose, substance misuse prevention, firearm injury prevention and public health. As a lead investigator, Cunningham has continuous support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies to identify ways to improve health. Dr. Cunningham is the former Director of the U-M Injury Prevention Center, one of nine U.S. injury control research centers funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to address urgent injury issues through research, education and outreach. She also leads a consortium of 25 researchers across 12 universities and health systems that aim to improve firearms safety through an injury prevention approach. The Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens Consortium represents a historic funding commitment from the National Institutes of Health to reduce firearm injury.