We are excited to announce the speakers and schedule have been released for this year's summit. See more information below. Join us Tuesday 2/14 and Thursday, 2/16.

Keynote Speakers

We are honored to have these world-renowned researchers sharing their insight and expertise with us. Join us to learn more from these leaders in our field.

See the schedule

2023 Virtual Summit

The theme for this year's summit is "Understanding Suicide Risk in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults."

We have distinguished speakers from Columbia and other institutions sharing their insights, knowledge, and research findings.

As always, this event is free. Register here.

The summit is being led once again by our Center's co-directors, Dr. John Mann and Dr. Randy Auerbach.

J. John Mann, MD

Randy P. Auerbach, PhD, ABPP

Day 1 Keynote Presentation:
Saving Holden Caulfield: Long and Short-term Strategies for Preventing Youth Suicide

David Brent, MD
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
[more on Dr. Brent's keynote presentation here]

Depression Center Co-Directors

Day 2 Keynote Presentation:
Social and Biological Underpinnings of Disparities in Risk for Suicidal Behavior and Strategies to Reduce These Disparities

Nadine M. Melhem, PhD
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
[more on Dr. Melhem's keynote presentation here]

Schedule - Day 1 (Feb. 14)
(Note: all times listed are NYC/est.)

Schedule

Opening Remarks

8:45 -8:55am

J. John Mann, MD, PhD

Day 1 Opening

Overview

8:55 -9:00am

J. John Mann, MD

Jeff Thompson, PhD

Day 1 Over

Keynote: Saving Holden Caulfield: Long-term and Short-term Strategies for Suicide Prevention

9:00 - 9:50am

David A. Brent, MD

Holden Caulfield hopes to catch kids playing “in a field of rye” as they fall off of a cliff. Our approach to suicide prevention in youth is analogous—we have all our ambulances at the base of the cliff. We will talk about four broad approaches to youth suicide prevention that improve upon catching youth as they fall off of a cliff.

They are:

(1) put a fence around the cliff (method restriction);

(2) go where the kids are (improve access to care through collaborative care);

(3) lead kids away from the cliff (evidence-based preventive interventions); and

(4) change the rules of the game (health system change).

These are all approaches that are feasible to implement now. We do have the potential to reduce the suicide rate if we have the will to implement these evidenced based approaches.

Keynote 1

Session 1: Suicide Prevention in Youth

10:00 - 11:20am

Leveraging technology to assess and intervene with adolescents at risk for suicide

Ewa Czyz, PhD

The prevention of suicide deaths and related outcomes in youth, including non-lethal attempts and suicidal thoughts, is an urgent public health priority. The pervasiveness of mobile phones has paved the way for near- or real-time assessment of suicidal thoughts and related risk states (via intensive longitudinal assessments) and delivery of interventions that can be sensitive to individuals' changing risk levels. Using data from high-risk adolescent samples, this presentation will highlight what intensive longitudinal assessments can tell us about:

(1) near-term change patterns in adolescents’ suicidal thoughts,

(2) identifying proximal elevations in suicidal thinking and related crises, as well as

(3) informing suicide-focused interventions.

Challenges and opportunities in context of youth suicide prevention will be considered.

Session 1

Measuring Adolescent Suicide Ideation Subtypes: Implications for Risk

Regina Miranda, PhD

This presentation will address the measurement and classification of adolescent suicide ideation subtypes as a way of improving assessment of short-term risk of future suicide attempts.

Novel Approaches to Detect Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Adolescents

Randy P. Auerbach, PhD, ABPP

Presently, there is a public health crisis, as rates of suicide continue to increase among young people. Directly addressing this issue, Dr. Auerbach will present data from projects using intensive longitudinal designs—inclusive of experience sampling and mobile sensor data—to predict the emergence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Future directions will focus on potential clinical tools that can be developed and implemented across a range of clinical settings.

Break

11:20am - 11:30am

Session 2: Advancements in Treatment for Suicidal Behavior

11:30am - 12:50pm

Reducing Suicide Risk by Providing Adolescents Strategies to Improve the Health of Emotion Regulation Brain Circuitry

Hilary Blumberg, MD

Dr. Blumberg will present multimodal neuroimaging evidence supporting a key role for alterations in the brain circuitry that subserves emotion regulation in suicide risk in adolescents with mood disorders. She will discuss results from a program of research, Brain Emotion Circuitry-Targeted Self-Monitoring and Regulation Therapy (BE-SMART), that provide evidence that providing adolescents strategies that enhance emotion regulation can reduce suicide risk. A focus will be on the beneficial effects of regularizing sleep patterns and other daily rhythms.

Session 2

Targeting Social Connections in Multi-Component Treatments for Youth Suicide Risk

Cheryl King, PhD

This presentation will review converging empirical evidence arguing for the importance of belongingness and connectedness to youth suicide risk and prevention. The Youth-Nominated Support Team intervention (YST), which builds an informed, supportive network of adults around youth at risk, will then be described, including results from a long-term mortality outcomes study. Next steps will be discussed briefly.

Decreasing Suicide Risk Among Youth with Bipolar Disorder

Tina Goldstein, PhD

Dr. Goldstein will present data on suicide outcomes from a large randomized controlled trial of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for adolescents with bipolar disorder. Mechanisms of treatment response will be discussed, along with implications for personalized psychosocial treatment recommendations for this high-risk population, including a data-driven risk calculator for near-term suicide risk that can be implemented in clinical practice. Future directions from cost effectiveness to neural mechanisms will be discussed.

Audience feedback and Concluding Remarks

12:50 -1:00pm

Schedule - Day 2 (Thurs., Feb. 16)
(Note: all times listed are NYC/est.)

Day 2

Opening Remarks and Overview

8:50 -9:00am

Randy P. Auerbach, PhD, ABPP

Jeff Thompson, PhD

2 Opening

Keynote: Social and Biological Underpinnings of Disparities in Risk for Suicidal Behavior and Strategies to Reduce These Disparities

9:00 - 9:50am

Nadine M. Melhem, MD

During this keynote presentation, the following will be shared:

A review epidemiological evidence of disparities in risk for suicidal behavior and the social underpinnings of these disparities in terms of exposure to adversity, less access to care and resources, etc.
Present on the biological impact of adversity on risk for suicidal behavior
Present on strategies to reduce disparities

Keynote 2

Session 3: Suicide Prevention in Youth

10:00 - 11:20am

Ketamine in Prevention of Suicidal Behaviors in Adults; potential for youth and young adults

J. John Mann, MD

Ketamine has been shown in RCTs in adults to produce a rapid and robust antidepressant effect in major depression. It works in younger and older adults, and even in medication-resistant depression. It also produces a robust benefit for suicidal ideation in hours and that benefit is partially explained by cognitive and other effects independent of the antidepressant benefit. As such ketamine may also bring important benefits to adolescents and young adults in terms of depression and suicidal ideation. This presentation will reviewed the available literature with regard to these therapeutic benefits of ketamine extending into younger age groups.

Session 3

Realizing the potential of social determinants of health to promote mental health equity and reduce youth suicide

Yunyu Xiao, PhD

Suicide is a major public health issue that disproportionately affects marginalized populations. In this talk, I will explore the epidemiological trends of health disparities and suicide, present models of Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) from the social sciences, and discuss why integrating the SDoH framework into marketing and biomedical research is essential for improving mental health equity.

I will also introduce different methods for identifying, studying, and addressing SDoH, and present results from interdisciplinary teamwork using electronic health records and large population-based studies to unlock the potential of SDoH to enhance mental health equity.

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors among college students – findings from the WHO World Mental Health International College Student Initiative

Philippe Mortier, MD, PhD

College students are an important subpopulation of young people at risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB). The WHO World Mental Health International College Student (WMH-ICS) Initiative is a coordinated series of ongoing epidemiological needs assessment surveys designed to provide accurate information about adverse mental health outcomes among college students worldwide.

In this talk, I will discuss main findings from the WMH-ICS Initiative regarding college student STB, including occurrence, important determinants, and implications for suicide prevention interventions.

Break

11:20am - 11:30am

Session 4: Suicide Prevention Strategies in School Children and the Emergency Department

11:30am - 12:50pm

Management of suicide risk in young adults

Michael Grunebaum, MD

I will review key topics in clinical management of suicide risk in young adults i.e. those approximately in the 18-29 year age range. Examples of topics include: SSRI agitation syndrome/worsened suicidality with antidepressant treatment risks, medication side effects, safety planning, co-occurring substance use, family involvement.

Session 4

Public health approaches to youth suicide prevention

Holly Wilcox, PhD

In 2020, suicide was the second leading cause of death in school-aged children ages 10-18 in the United States. Provisional 2021 suicide data from the CDC show that the overall US suicide rate has decreased but has increased in people of color. Over the past several years, there has been a significant increase in the rate of suicide and suicide ideation and behaviors (SIB) among Black and Latinx youth.

Because the majority of people who die by suicide do so on their first attempt (and a ‘cry for help’ could be fatal), it is essential that sectors serving children such as school systems have clear and robust pathways for identifying and responding to suicide risk.

e-Connect: Use of a digital clinical decisional-support system to effectively identify suicidal behavior, triage and link youth on probation to care

Katherine Elkington, PhD

This presentation will cover the following:

Briefly describe the epidemiology of suicide thoughts and behaviors in justice-involved youth, and discuss reasons for heightened risk in this population
Describe state of the field with respect to failure in identification, referral and linkage
Describe the components of e-Connect (screening, risk classification, triage with specific referral pathways) and present findings from a clinical trial on outcomes
Discussion of
- use of CDSS in justice system and unintended (positive) impact;
- scaling up and sustaining e-Connect in justice system settings
- extending approach to other youth serving systems that manage vulnerable youth

Audience feedback and Concluding Remarks

12:50 -1:00pm

Speakers

(Listed alphabetically)

See the schedule

Randy P. Auerbach, PhD, ABPP

Associate Professor

Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University

Division of Clinical Developmental Neuroscience, Sackler Institute

Co-Director, Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Depression

Director, Translational Research on Affective Disorders and Suicide Laboratory

Director, EEG Core

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Session 1, Day 1: Novel Approaches to Detect Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Adolescents

Hilary P. Blumberg, MD

The John and Hope Furth Professor of Psychiatric Neuroscience

Program Director, Mood Disorders Research

Yale School of Medicine

Session 2, Day 1: Reducing Suicide Risk by Providing Adolescents Strategies to Improve the Health of Emotion Regulation Brain Circuitry

David A. Brent, MD

Academic Chief, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Endowed Chair in Suicide Studies

UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital

Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics,

Epidemiology & Clinical Translational Science

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Keynote, Day 1: Saving Holden Caulfield: Long-term and Short-term Strategies for Suicide Prevention

Ewa Czyz, PhD

Assistant Professor

Department of Psychiatry

University of Michigan

Session 1, Day 1:

Katherine Elkington, PhD

Professor of Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry)

Director, Center for Behavioral Health and Youth Justice

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

New York State Psychiatric Institute

Session 4, Day 2: e-Connect: Use of a digital clinical decisional-support system to effectively identify suicidal behavior, triage and link youth on probation to care

Tina Goldstein, PhD

The Pittsburgh Foundation Endowed Professor in Psychiatry Research

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Western Psychiatric Hospital

Session 2, Day 1: Decreasing Suicide Risk Among Youth with Bipolar Disorder

Michael Grunebaum, MD

Special Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry

Columbia University Medical Center

Research Psychiatrist

New York State Psychiatric Institute

Session 4, Day 2: Management of Suicide Risk in Young Adults

Cheryl King, PhD

Professor

Department of Psychiatry

University of Michigan

Session 2, Day 1: Targeting Social Connections in Multi-Component Treatments for Youth Suicide Risk

J. John Mann, MD

Paul Janssen Professor of Translational Neuroscience in Psychiatry and Radiology

Director, Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology Division, Department of Psychiatry

Co-Director, Columbia Center for Prevention and Treatment of Depression

Session 3, Day 2: Ketamine in Prevention of Suicidal Behaviors in Adults; potential for youth and young adults

Nadine M. Melhem, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science

Director, Program for the Neurobiology of Stress Response and Suicide

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Keynote, Day 2: Social and Biological Underpinnings of Disparities in Risk for Suicidal Behavior and Strategies to Reduce These Disparities