Postdoctoral Training in Suicide Prevention Research

As the only NIMH-funded postdoctoral training program dedicated solely to suicide prevention research, the CSPS T32 continues to shape the field. This application is for competitive renewal (Years 21 through 25) of an NIMH Institutional National Research Service Award (T32 MH20061) titled, “Postdoctoral Training Program in Suicide Prevention Research.” We seek support for six postdoctoral training slots. A component of the University of Rochester’s (UR) Center for the Study of the Prevention Suicide (CSPS), the “CSPS T32” has as its long-term objective to develop a cadre of early career scientists with the knowledge and experience necessary to establish careers as independent investigators and members of interdisciplinary teams dedicated to the study of suicide and its prevention. Training emphasizes suicide prevention research consistent with the revised NIMH Strategic Plan for Research – 2020, which calls suicide “an urgent priority for NIMH”. Fellows in psychology, public health, medicine, and related disciplines undergo a two-year training sequence guided by an “individual development plan” designed by each fellow and her/his mentor at the outset of training and annually. The curriculum includes a coordinated series of courses, seminars, and workshops designed to provide the fellow with a firm foundation in the theories and methods of suicide prevention research. Core areas of knowledge and skill development include (a) suicidology, (b) research methods, (c) academic career development and “survival skills”, and (d) professional integrity and the ethical conduct of research. Each fellow works with one or more Mentors selected from the UR faculty on development and implementation of an individually tailored program of applied suicide prevention research. A third year of mentored research training is available on a selective basis. An evaluation plan closely tracks the performance of each trainee and, over the longer term, of the program itself in preparing its graduates for careers in intervention, outcomes, and health services research in general and suicide prevention studies in particular. Suicide is a complex, multi-determined behavior. The CSPS T32 has been successful in recruiting fellows who are from cultural and academic backgrounds that reflect the diverse perspectives needed to understand suicide and its prevention. Retention through the program and into careers in suicide prevention research has been excellent. Program innovations with this application include increased emphases on training in (a) the use of digital technologies, artificial intelligence and health analytics in suicide prevention research; (b) the translational neuroscience of suicide; (c) the role that sensory (hearing and vision) deficits play in suicide risk, and the recruitment of fellows from those communities; and (d) the lived experience of individuals and families affected by suicide. The fellowship is further enriched by the addition to its already robust network of collaborators of linkages with (i) the UR Health Lab for digital technology innovation, (ii) the UR Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, (iii) UR Center for Eye and Brain Health.