Mallory O'Brien, PhD

Dr. Mallory O’Brien is the Founding Director of the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission (MHRC) and DataShare as well as an Assistant Professor with Institute for Health & Equity, Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. O’Brien has a PhD in Epidemiology and has worked as a researcher with public health, community and criminal justice partners in Milwaukee for the past 14 years. She has led the development, implementation and expansion of the MHRC since its inception. The MHRC has been systematically collecting comprehensive data from the criminal justice community on homicides since 2005 and non-fatal shootings since 2006. She is currently the Project Director for a USDOJ COPS grant to create a homicide review technical assistance manual and train 96 jurisdictions in the homicide review process. The data reports for the MHRC can be found online at milwaukee.gov/hrc. Dr. O’Brien leads the development of DataShare, an integrated data system for Milwaukee, linking public health, public safety and education data to improve the lives of Milwaukee residents. Additionally, she is Co-PI on two NIJ funded grants one on nonfatal shootings, the second developing Sentinel Event Reviews.

Honors and Awards

Director’s Community Leadership Award - US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Outstanding Service by a Research Partner Award - US Department of Justice, Project Safe Neighborhood
Outstanding Population Health Practice Publication Award - University of Wisconsin Population Institute

• Homicide Review Commission
  Homicide, Non-Fatal Shooting, Gun Violence
   
• Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence Review
  Sexual Violence, Sex Trafficking , Domestic Violence
   
• Opioid Overdose
  Data integration and overdose fatality reviews statewide
   
• Integrated Data System
  Linking multidisciplinary data

Recent Publications

Hipple, N.K., McGarrell, E.F., O’Brien, M., Huebner, B.M. (2016). Gun crime incident reviews as a strategy for enhancing problem solving and information sharing. The Journal of Crime and Justice. doi: 10.1080/0735648X.2016.1155303

Cook, PJ; Kang, S; Braga, AA; Ludwig, J; O’Brien, ME (2015). An Experimental Evaluation of a Comprehensive Employment-Oriented Prisoner Re-entry Program. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 31 (3), 355-382.

O’Brien, M. What Do We Get out of Homicide Reviews? Research in Brief, The Police Chief 80 (June 2013): 12.

Cook, P; O’Brien, M; Ludwig, J, Braga, A. Lessons from a Partially Controlled Field Trial. Journal of Experimental Criminology, Online First, May 11, 2012

Azrael, D; O’Brien, M; Braga, A. Evaluation of the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. 2012

O’Brien M, Woods L, Cisler R. The Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission: An Interagency Collaboration Process to Reduce Homicide. Wisconsin Medical Journal 2007; (7) 385-388.

Vernick JS, O'Brien M, Hepburn LM, Johnson SB, Webster DW, Hargarten SW. Unintentional and Undetermined Firearm Related Deaths: A Preventable Death Analysis for Three Safety Devices. Injury Prevention 2003;9: 307-11.

Kuhn EM, Nie CL, O’Brien ME, Withers RL, Wintemute GJ, Hargarten SW. Missing the target: A comparison of buyback and fatality-related guns. Injury Prevention 2002; 8:143-146.

Hargarten, S., Kuhn, E., Mercy, J., Withers, R., Nie, C., O'Brien, M. Suicide guns: why collect the information? Injury Prevention 2000;6:245-246.

Tymus, T., O’Brien, M., Hargarten, S. Wisconsin firearm injury surveillance system development: a comparison of medical examiner/coroner data. Wis Med J. 1996; (5):277-282.

Hargarten, S., Karlson, T., O’Brien, M., Hancock, J., Quebbeman, E. Characteristics of firearms involved in fatalities. JAMA 1996

Tymus, T., O’Brien, M., Hargarten, S. Wisconsin firearm injury surveillance system development: a comparison of medical examiner/coroner data. Wis Med J. 1996; (5):277-282.

Hargarten, S., O'Brien, M. Trends in motor vehicle and firearm deaths in Wisconsin: an analysis for examining prevention strategies. Wis Med J. 1994;(10):521-524.