{"id":235141,"date":"2024-01-04T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=235141"},"modified":"2025-06-17T14:15:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T18:15:12","slug":"sph-awarded-2-95m-grant-to-study-health-of-suicide-loss-survivors","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2024\/sph-awarded-2-95m-grant-to-study-health-of-suicide-loss-survivors\/","title":{"rendered":"Professors Receive $2.95M Grant to Study Health of Suicide Loss Survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-media-focus-center-middle has-text-position-x-left has-text-position-y-bottom\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2207\" height=\"1359\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"White silhouette of person standing in ankle-deep water with ripples going out across the water\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980.jpg 2207w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980-636x392.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980-1024x631.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980-768x473.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980-1536x946.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980-2048x1261.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980-755x465.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980-1624x1000.jpg 1624w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980-900x554.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980-1920x1182.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1388358980-1200x739.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2207px) 100vw, 2207px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">epidemiology<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProfessors Receive $2.95M Grant to Study Health of Suicide Loss Survivors\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">AJ Rosellini and Jaimie Gradus will leverage Danish health records to document the mental and physical health outcomes experienced by family and friends of individuals who die by suicide.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">January 4, 2024<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/megan-jones\/\">Megan Jones<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nimh.nih.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Institute of Mental Health<\/a>&nbsp;(NIMH) has awarded a $2.95 million <a href=\"https:\/\/reporter.nih.gov\/search\/FQ86Wi2x5UOGL0ggXr8TAQ\/project-details\/10716673\">grant<\/a> to Boston University School of Public Health to investigate the mental and physical health outcomes experienced by family and friends of individuals who die by suicide, also known as suicide loss survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the next four years, SPH researchers and their collaborators will leverage Denmark\u2019s national data registries, analyzing 30 years of electronic medical records and sociodemographic information to identify people exposed to suicide deaths between 1994 and 2024 and document their mental and physical health following the loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suicide is often understood to have a ripple effect, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3384446\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prior research<\/a> showing suicide loss survivors are at higher risk of developing major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal behavior themselves. One <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/29512876\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">estimate<\/a> suggests that for each suicide death, 135 additional people are exposed to the potential trauma of the loss. By developing a cohort of suicide loss survivors and two comparison cohorts of people exposed to loss via accidents and people from the general population, the project aims pinpoint health outcomes specific to suicide loss, laying a robust foundation for future epidemiological study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSuicide rates have increased over the past few decades, especially among teenagers and young adults. One very needed and appropriate consequence has been an increase in funding for [research] trying to identify how to prevent suicide. The other side of the coin though, is that with these increasing rates, that also means that there are more people that are exposed to suicide each year,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/anthony-rosellini\/\">AJ Rosellini<\/a>, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and co-principal investigator on the study alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/jaimie-gradus\/\">Jaimie Gradus<\/a>, a professor also in the Department of Epidemiology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere has also been, appropriately, a big increase in focus on trauma and the impacts of trauma across the lifespan,\u201d says Rosellini. \u201cI think this project brings these two important fields together by looking at the trauma of suicide itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the team has combed the records of suicide loss survivors to document health outcomes, they plan to analyze how those outcomes vary based on the amount of time to pass since a loss, the relationship of the survivor to the deceased (i.e., father, daughter, roommate, etc.), and the sex of the survivor. They will also examine the outcomes for patterns of comorbidities\u2014diseases that present simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rosellini explains that further characterization of the health outcomes is important because while most medical research focuses on one disorder at a time, the reality is people often experience multiple conditions at once. Studying patterns of disease could enable the development of transdiagnostic treatments, which address multiple conditions through common underlying mechanisms. Ultimately, he hopes the research will lead to more targeted and effective suicide postventions, the support rendered to bereaved individuals in the wake of a suicide death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gradus (SPH\u201809) and Rosellini (GRS\u201813) have collaborated on mental health research on several prior occasions. A transplant from BU\u2019s Charles River Campus, Rosellini joined the faculty at SPH last year. He completed his undergraduate and doctorate degrees in psychology at BU and later worked as a research assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and at the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/card\/\" target=\"_blank\">Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders<\/a>, where he still holds an adjunct appointment. After earning her doctorate in epidemiology at SPH, Gradus studied for a second doctorate at Aarhus University in Denmark. The two BU alums now work together under the umbrella of SPH\u2019s new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/research\/centers-and-groups\/center-for-trauma-and-mental-health\/\">Center for Trauma and Mental Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rosellini says Gradus\u2019s Danish connections have proven invaluable in supporting their growing portfolio of research on suicide. Most recently, the pair used Danish records to <a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/aje\/advance-article\/doi\/10.1093\/aje\/kwad237\/7459183?login=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">identify risk factors<\/a> for suicide attempts among people with depression. Their work, published in the <em>American Journal of Epidemiology<\/em> earlier this month, mirrors efforts across the field to identify opportunities to intervene to prevent suicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSuicide is known to be a public health problem. Accordingly, and rightfully so, much of the research to date has focused on understanding risk for suicide,\u201d says Gradus. \u201cI think this project is important because it highlights a part of the suicide public health problem that has received relatively less attention in the research literature\u2014the health of people who experience suicide loss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rounding out the research team are <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/profile\/amy-street\/\" target=\"_blank\">Amy Street<\/a>, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the BU Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine; <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pure.au.dk\/portal\/en\/persons\/hts%40clin.au.dk\" target=\"_blank\">Henrik Toft S\u00f8rensen<\/a>, a clinical professor and chair of the Departments of Clinical Medicine and Epidemiology at Aarhus University in Denmark; <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/socialwork.uky.edu\/about-us\/college-directory\/dr-julie-cerel\/\" target=\"_blank\">Julie Cerel<\/a>, a professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky; and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/sph.emory.edu\/faculty\/profile\/index.php?FID=timothy-lash-8685\" target=\"_blank\">Tim Lash<\/a>, a professor and chair in the Department of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/suicidepreventionlifeline.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">National Suicide Prevention Lifeline<\/a>&nbsp;provides 24\/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.&nbsp;<em>Call or text 988 for more information.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>To learn more about related research and practice at SPH, visit the Center for Trauma and Mental Health (CTMH) <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ctmh\/\">website<\/a> and subscribe to the CTMH <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ctmh\/#:~:text=Join%20Our%20Mailing%20List\" target=\"_blank\">newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories is-style-card has-two sphnews-block-editorial-relatedstories\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-title\">Related<\/h3>\n\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"600\" height=\"362\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2023\/04\/center-for-trauma-and-mental-health.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Shadow of a person visible on wet and oily ground\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>health inequities<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2023\/sph-launches-new-center-for-trauma-and-mental-health\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">SPH Launches Center for Trauma and Mental Health<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">April 28, 2023<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"600\" height=\"362\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2022\/12\/MentalHealth_FeaturedImage.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Cartoon depicting elderly people hanging laundry to dry, images of war, a war medal, pills\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>mental health<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2022\/the-way-forward-shifting-from-stigmas-to-solutions\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">The Way Forward: Shifting From Stigmas to Solutions<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">December 12, 2022<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The&nbsp;National Institute of Mental Health&nbsp;(NIMH) has awarded a $2.95 million grant to Boston University School of Public Health to investigate the mental and physical health outcomes experienced by family and friends of individuals who die by suicide, also known as suicide loss survivors. Over the next four years, SPH researchers and their collaborators will leverage [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22210,"featured_media":235147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[509,1871,2367,3214,2191,4716,2574],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,4308,3530,3531,3540,3541],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[3998,2825],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/235141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235141"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/235141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255286,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/235141\/revisions\/255286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235141"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=235141"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=235141"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=235141"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=235141"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=235141"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=235141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}