Pittsburgh duo receives $3.8M grant to improve suicide prevention with fMRI
The National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) has granted two Pittsburgh-based researchers a five-year, $3.8 million grant to better identify and treat individuals with suicidal thoughts with functional MRI (fMRI).
The grant will be used to advance previous research conducted by Marcel Just, DO, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, and David Brent, MD, endowed chair in suicide studies and professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, according to a Carnegie Mellon release from Aug. 29.
"Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young adults in the U.S., and current assessment methods rely entirely on patients self-reporting and doctors' observations," said Brent. "Any new inroads to better diagnosis and treatment have the potential to save lives."
Their study, called the Predicting Risk Imaging Suicidal Minds (PRISM) project, will aim to establish neurocognitive makers of suicidal ideation and examine brain activation patterns in suicidal young adults.
Using machine learning techniques with fMRI, Just and Brent will examine neural signatures of suicidal thoughts and behavior as participants think about words related to suicide or death.
The researchers hope the work can improve physicians’ ability to develop more personalized treatment for suicidal patients based on cognitive and emotional patterns, according to the release.
A recent graduate from Dominican University (IL) with a bachelor’s in journalism, Melissa joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering all aspects of health imaging. She’s a fan of singing and playing guitar, elephants, a good cup of tea, and her golden retriever Cooper.