NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The largest private funder of suicide prevention research, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), today announced 26 new grants totaling over $6.2 million. These grants were awarded to researchers from across the world who focus their work on studies that help us learn more about suicide and how to prevent it.

"Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death, and we are learning how to prevent it through research. These new studies will provide us with an even deeper understanding of suicide to aid in our prevention efforts. The studies cover a broad range of topics including new ways to screen for suicide risk, the development of effective interventions, and efforts to increase our understanding of the biology of suicidal behavior. I am so proud to announce the researchers who AFSP will be supporting this year," said Dr. Jill Harkavy-Friedman, the vice president of research for AFSP.

Each application is reviewed multiple times by the top suicide prevention researchers in the world. The research grants are funded mainly through individual donors who attend the AFSP walks and other public education events. Many of the AFSP grantees then go on to receive further funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and other large funding agencies.

The 26 grants awarded this year address six key suicide research areas: Neurobiological, Psychosocial, Genetic, Treatment, Community or Loss Survivors:

1. Title: "Opiate Suicide Study in Patients with Major Depression"

Amount: $1,416,096  

Researcher: Alan Schatzberg, MD, Kenneth T. Norris, Jr. Professor

Location: Stanford University, Stanford, CA

2. Title: "Inpatient Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy to Reduce Suicide Risk Post-Discharge"

Amount: $1,049,024

Researcher: David Tolin, PhD, Director

Location: Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT

3. Title: "An Integrated Approach to Understanding the Biology of Suicidal Behavior"

Amount: $1,488,788

Researcher: Virginia Willour, PhD, Associate Professor

Location: University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

4. Title: "Virtual Interaction Training in Emotional Self-Awareness for Working with Suicidal Patients"

Amount: $300,000

Researchers: Igor Galynker MD, PhD Professor of Psychiatry & Adriana Foster, MD, Professor, Vice-Chair for Clinical and Research Programs

Locations: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, and Florida International University, Miami, FL

5. Title: "MicroRNA Mediators of Early-Life Stress Vulnerability in Suicidal Behavior"

Amount: $125,000

Researcher: Yogesh Dwivedi, PhD Elesabeth Ridgley Shook Endowed Chair, Professor of Psychiatry

Location: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

6. Title: "Comparison of brain and blood suicide signatures: From mechanisms to biomarkers"

Amount: $100,000

Researcher: Adolfo Sequeira, PhD, Assistant Research Professor

Location: University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA

7. Title: "Risk of Suicide Mortality Among 1 Million Handgun Purchasers: A Cohort Study"

Amount: $100,000

Researcher: David Studdert LLB, ScD, MPH, Professor of Law, Professor of Medicine

Location: Stanford University, Stanford, CA

8. Title: "Post-Hospital Suicide Prevention Intervention for Patients with Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders"

Amount: $100,000

Researcher: Brandon Gaudiano, PhD Research Psychologist, Associate Professor

Location: Butler Hospital/Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI

9. Title: "Validating the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Neurodevelopmental Disability"

Amount: $100,000

Researcher: Paul Lipkin, MD, Director, Interactive Autism Network

Location: Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc., Baltimore, MD

10. Title: "Improving Prevention of Youth Suicide Clusters: A Systems Approach"

Amount: $99,368

Researcher: Anna Mueller, PhD, Assistant Professor

Location: Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

11. Title: "Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Efficacy of a Novel Personalized Mobile Intervention for Suicide"

Amount: $97,684

Researcher: Heather Schatten, PhD, Research Psychologist, Assistant Professor

Location: Butler Hospital/Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI

12. Title: "Pain-Based Catastrophic Thinking and Suicidality: A Cognitive-Interpersonal Examination" Amount: $99,990

Researcher: Golan Shahar, PhD, Professor of Clinical-Health Psychology

Location: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-sheva, Negev, Israel

13. Title: "GABA-related mechanisms of suicidality reduction"

Amount: $100,000

Researcher: Etienne Sibille, PhD, Deputy Director

Location: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

14. Title: "Suicidality in Depressed Adolescents: A Study of Neural Changes with a Mind-Body Intervention"

Amount: $100,000

Researcher: Olga Tymofiyeva, PhD, Assistant Professional Researcher

Location: University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

15. Title: "Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Dependence to Reduce the Risk of Death by Suicide"

Amount: $99,468

Researcher: Bradley Watts, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Location: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

16. Title: "The Gut-Brain Axis and Suicide Attempts: New Markers for Assessment and Prevention"

Amount: $100,000

Researcher: Faith Dickerson, PhD, MPH, Director of Psychology

Location: Sheppard Pratt Health System, Towson, MD

17. Title: "Pilot Study to Identify Modifiable Transdiagnostic Suicide Attempt Risk Factors"

Amount: $100,000

Researcher: Carolyn Rodriguez, MD, PhD Assistant Professor

Location: Stanford University, Stanford, CA

18. Title: "Elucidating the Polygenic Architecture Underlying Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors"

Amount: $68,761

Researcher: Emma Johnson, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate

Location: Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO

19. Title: "Evaluation of Suicide Risk, Opioid, and Pain Screening Protocols in West Virginia Primary Care"

Amount: $89,276

Researcher: Mary LeCloux, PhD, Assistant Professor/MSW Program Director

Location: West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

20. Title: "Characterizing Suicides Among Opioid-Related Deaths"

Amount: $90,000

Researcher: Paul Nestadt, MD, Assistant Professor

Location: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD

21. Title: "Neural markers of NSSI and Suicide Risk: Acute Physical Pain Modulation of Neural Processing of Social Rejection"

Amount: $80,000

Researcher: Caroline Oppenheimer, PhD, Assistant Professor

Location: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

22. Title: "Examining the Association between Social Cognitive Deficits and Suicidal Ideation in Eating Disorders"

Amount: $90,000

Researcher: Emily Pisetsky, PhD, Assistant Professor

Location: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

23. Title: "Characterization of rare genetic variants involved in risk of death by suicide"

Amount: $112,000

Researcher: Emily DiBlasi, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow

Location: University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

24. Title: "Individual and Contextual Level Correlates of Suicide in Rural Areas of the United States"

Amount: $112,000

Researcher: Danielle Steelesmith, PhD, MSW, Quality Data Manager

Location: Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

25. Title: "Identifying molecular, cellular, and synaptic changes associated with suicide"

Amount: $30,000

Researcher: Sujan Chandra Das, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate

Location: University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

26. Title: "Using genomic and clinical data to distinguish child psychiatry outpatients at high risk for suicide"

Amount: $29,989

Researcher: Alysa Doyle, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Location: Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. AFSP creates a culture that's smart about mental health through education and community programs, develops suicide prevention through research and advocacy, and provides support for those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, and with a public policy office in Washington, D.C., AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states with programs and events nationwide. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report, and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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SOURCE American Foundation for Suicide Prevention