ROCKVILLE, Md. (July 16) — The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. (HJF) has entered a cooperative agreement with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), the Army, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and three leading research universities to study suicide risk among U.S. servicemembers and to develop intervention measures. The universities are Harvard University, Columbia University and the University of Michigan.
The goals of the five-year, $50 million epidemiological study center on identifying:
- previously undetected risk factors for suicide-related events and behaviors
- factors that may protect individuals from becoming suicidal
- pathways and trajectories into and out of risk for self-injurious behavior
- new opportunities for reducing suicide risk.
The study will focus on a broad range of military members, from recruits to those recently separated from service, and will examine variables that may lead to suicidal behavior, such as psychosocial risk factors, biological conditions and pre-existing psychological traits. Researchers hope to help ensure that the military has a streamlined and comprehensive approach to suicide detection and prevention.
The interventions developed during the course of this study could apply to servicemembers diagnosed with other conditions, such as traumatic brain injury or posttraumatic stress disorder. They could also be utilized within civilian populations.
HJF's primary role in this endeavor is to administer the funding provided by NIMH. In doing so, it is providing subaward agreements to the universities for in-depth research that will take a multifaceted approach to suicide risk detection and suicide prevention. University researchers will be responsible for conducting thousands of interviews with servicemembers and performing data analysis.
Dr. Robert J. Ursano, director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at USU, will lead these efforts. Ursano is a world-renowned expert in mental health and trauma and will work closely with the principal investigators at the universities, as well as NIMH scientists and Army project officers. The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress conducts research, education, consultation and training on preparing for, and responding to, the psychological effects and health consequences of traumatic events. The center, a public-private partnership between USU and HJF, integrates science, clinical care, community needs and the health of the nation.
About The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc.
The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing military medical research. Its mission is to provide support to scientists working in the military medical field. Congress authorized the Foundation to be established in 1983. HJF now supports more than 1,000 programs at over 100 locations worldwide. For more information, visit www.hjf.org.
About the Uniformed Services University
Located on the grounds of Bethesda's National Naval Medical Center and across from the National Institutes of Health, USU is the nation's federal school of medicine and graduate school of nursing. The university educates health care professionals dedicated to career service in the Department of Defense and the U.S. Public Health Service. Students are active-duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service, who are being educated to deal with wartime casualties, natural disasters, emerging infectious diseases and other public health emergencies. Of the university's nearly 4,400 physician alumni and more than 400 advance practice nurses, the vast majority serve on active duty and are supporting operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, offering their leadership and expertise. The university also has graduated more than 600 public health professionals. For more information, visit www.usuhs.edu.
About the National Institute of Mental Health
The mission of NIMH, part of the National Institutes of Health, is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery and cure. For NIMH to continue fulfilling this vital public health mission, it must foster innovative thinking and ensure that a full array of novel scientific perspectives are used to further discovery in the evolving science of brain, behavior and experience. In this way, breakthroughs in science can become breakthroughs for all people with mental illnesses. To reach these goals, NIMH divisions and programs are designed to emphasize translational research spanning bench to bedside to practice. For more information, visit www.nimh.nih.gov.