About the Organizers
International Academy of Suicide Research
The International Academy for Suicide Research is an organization that promotes high standards of research and scholarship in the field of suicidal behaviour by fostering communication and co-operation among scholars engaged in such research.
The Academy’s official publication is the Archives of Suicide Research. This is a peer-reviewed journal published by Taylor & Francis.
The Academy holds annual scientific and business meetings. These have been held in conjunction with conferences such as the International Association for Suicide Prevention, the European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour, and the American Association of Suicidology.
For more information, please visit: http://www.suicide-research.org/.
A reduced registration fee is offered for full members of IASR for the Suicide Summit.
Considering becoming a member of the IASR?
The IASR welcome individuals who are engaged in ongoing research on suicide, either directly or as advisers, reviewers, or consultants to become full members of the IASR.
Application criteria are:
1) an outstanding and internationally recognized track record in the field of suicidology and
2) support from two existing full members (either as submitted as letters of nomination or an email stating the support).
For more information, please see: https://suicide-research.org/membership/.
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Established in 1987, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is a voluntary health organization that gives those affected by suicide a nationwide community empowered by research, education and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death.
AFSP is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. AFSP creates a culture that’s smart about mental health by engaging in the following core strategies:
• Funding scientific research
• Developing public education
• Advocating for public policies in mental health and suicide prevention
• Supporting survivors of suicide loss and those affected by suicide in our mission
Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, and with a public policy office in Washington, D.C., AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states with programs and events nationwide. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report, and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and You Tube.
For more information, please visit: https://www.afsp.org/.
Meet the 2019 Conference Co-Chairs:
Erkki Isometsä, M.D., Ph.D., University of Helsinki, Finland
Erkki Isometsä, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He started research in the national psychological autopsy study of the National Suicide Prevention Project in Finland and the WHO/Euro Study of Parasuicide Helsinki site, thereafter serving in 1997-2004 as the Head of the Mood Disorders and Suicide Research Unit at the National Public Health Institute. More recently, his research has focused on the general population and clinical epidemiology of mood disorders, their risk factors, illness mechanisms, course, outcome, treatment, and associated disability and suicidal behavior. He has led major longitudinal research projects, including the Vantaa Depression Study (VDS), the Vantaa Primary Care Depression Study (PC-VDS), and the Jorvi Bipolar Study (JoBS). His current research includes register-based national studies of suicide, and clinical risk factors studies of suicidal behavior in mood disorders. He leads clinical trials, studies of neurocognition and emotional processing, and experience sampling and mobile monitoring of mood disorders and suicidal behavior.
Professor Isometsä chairs the national Finnish depression treatment guidelines and is a member of the bipolar and suicide prevention guideline task forces. He served as the Secretary & Treasurer the International Academy of Suicide Research (IASR) in 2011-14, and is Finland’s country representative in the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP). He is active in International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD), and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), and has other expert roles including memberships in editorial boards. By June 2019, he had authored or co-authored 240 original studies, plus 134 reviews, textbook chapters, or editorials; in the Web of Science, his publications had been cited 10 878 times (h-index 56).
Cheryl King, Ph.D., University of Michigan, USA
Cheryl King, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Michigan, and Director of the Youth Depression and Suicide Prevention Research Program. Her research focuses on the development of evidence-based practices for suicide risk screening, assessment, and intervention. She is currently Principal Investigator of three NIMH-funded research projects: Emergency Department Screen for Teens at Risk for Suicide (ED-STARS), which aims to develop an adaptive suicide risk screen that can be disseminated nationwide; Electronic Bridge to Mental Health for College Students (eBridge), which aims to test the efficacy of an online suicide risk screening and treatment linkage counseling program; and 24-Hour Risk for Suicide Attempts in a National Cohort of Adolescents. A clinical educator and research mentor, Dr. King has served as Director of Psychology Training and Chief Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry, and has twice received the Teacher of the Year Award in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is the lead author of Teen Suicide Risk: A Practitioner Guide to Screening, Assessment, and Management. In addition, Dr. King has provided testimony in the U.S. Senate on youth suicide prevention and is a Past President of the American Association of Suicidology, the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers, and the Society for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.