Our mission
The Consortium for Research Innovation in Suicide Prevention aims to advance knowledge about and reduce the incidence of suicidal and other self-injurious behaviors through research, education, and policy.
Our Education Goals
Establish programs for education and training that promote the distribution of our knowledge of suicide prevention and educate the next generation of suicide researchers
Our Policy Goals
Advance suicide prevention advocacy, facilitate community partnerships, and promote evidence based practices to inform policy at a local, national, and global level
Our Research Goals
Create a collaborative environment with shared resources that fosters high quality, interdisciplinary suicide research.
Conduct research aimed at understanding the fundamental factors and processes that contribute to the incidence of suicide and other self-harm behaviors.
Develop and evaluate programs to reduce suicide, attempted suicide and other self-harm behaviors.
Translate findings from basic research and treatment development into interventions that can be disseminated into routine clinical care.
Leverage technology and digital phenotyping methods to identify who is at risk for suicide and other self-harm behaviors, and to develop technology-delivered interventions targeting these risk factors.
Coordination and Collaboration with other Brown departments and Initiatives
As is evident from the breadth of the Consortium faculty members and their research, suicidal behavior is multifaceted and complex. Furthering our understanding of the risk factors and optimal interventions for suicidal behavior will require significant collaboration from multiple disciplines. As noted previously, members of the Consortium represent a wide range of departments and areas of expertise. In addition, members from the Consortium have and will work closely with other departments and initiatives, including the Carney Institute for Brain Science, Center for Biomedical Informatics, Advance-CTR, and the planned Center for Stress and Trauma as well as multiple Brown departments including: CLPS, Public Health, Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine.
More specifically, there are a number of ongoing collaborations between Consortium members (Drs. Nugent, Spirito, Weinstock and Uebelacker) and faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Other existing collaborations between Consortium members and other Brown departments include relationships between: Drs. Arias and Uebelacker with the Center for Biomedical Informatics: Dr. Armey with faculty from Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences and Dr. Nugent with faculty from the department of Computer Science.
Coordination and Collaboration with State/Local Government and Community Agencies
Coordination and collaboration with government and community agencies is critical to the mission of the Consortium. Consortium members have already begun to establish partnerships with several community agencies and organizations to promote best practices for suicide prevention in Rhode Island, with plans to further build upon these relationships to advance future initiatives.
For example, Drs. Uebelacker and Armey have taken leadership roles on the Care New England Suicide Prevention Committee, tasked with identifying and developing system-wide improvements to suicide surveillance, assessment, and staff training. Dr. Armey is also involved in Butler Hospital’s Zero Suicide Initiative, with the goal of eliminating suicide at Butler Hospital during inpatient stays, as well as 30 days post-discharge. Dr. Jennifer Primack serves on the Providence VA Suicide Prevention Committee, tasked with establishing policy for suicide prevention within the VA hospital setting. Dr. Weinstock has formed strong collaborative relationships with the RI Department of Corrections, and is a member of the multidisciplinary Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights. As a resident of South County, she was also recently appointed to the South Kingstown Partnership for Prevention, and has been a scientific advisor to the Chris Collins Foundation, contributing to their efforts to disseminate an evidence-based mental health peer educator program to local high schools.
Following discussions with RIDOH affiliates, CRISP leadership is also currently exploring the possibility of establishing a relationship with the RIDOH Academic Center, designed to promote community-academic collaborations. To that end, Consortium members have already collaborated with the RI Department of Health on several grant applications. Additionally, Consortium members have ongoing relationships (and past grant proposals) with several local community mental health centers (The Providence Center, Gateway Healthcare). We expect to continue and expand these collaborations.