In a significant move for terrorism prevention efforts, William Braniff – most recently the Director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) – was announced as the new Executive Director for American University’s Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL).
Founded and led by Professor Cynthia Miller-Idriss, PERIL takes a public health approach to preventing radicalization and violent extremism. The lab designs and tests evidence-based tools to reduce threats of radicalization to harmful content, including conspiracy theories, misinformation, and supremacist ideologies. The collaboration between Braniff and Miller-Idriss at PERIL signals a continuation of prevention efforts outside of government channels, with a focus on scaling up evidence-based approaches to combat extremism and build community resilience.
In acknowledging the addition to the research lab, PERIL Founding Director and Chief Vision Officer Miller-Idriss wrote, “Thrilled to move the field together with William Braniff – a complete game changer for Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL) & for the prevention field more broadly. Onward!!”
The move comes shortly after his resignation from CP3 on March 3, which he stated was prompted by the termination of eight employees due to their probationary status. Braniff emphasized the importance of its prevention mission in his resignation statement, noting that “CP3 is the inheritor of the primary and founding mission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – to prevent terrorism.” He highlighted that the demand for CP3’s assistance from state governments, law enforcement, schools, and workplaces is “massive” and that their approach “saves lives and money.”
Braniff was the Director for CP3 from April 2023 to March 2025, and previously served as the Director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) from July 2018 to April 2023, and its Executive Director from February 2012 to June 2018. Braniff was the 2024 recipient of GTSC’s Homeland Security Today National Award for Excellence in Outreach – Public Health as a result of CP3’s outreach efforts. Moving on from CP3 to PERIL, Braniff hopes to continue “this important prevention work outside of government.”