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The SPRINT Early Career Investigator (ECI) group is open to investigators with an interest in suicide prevention research who are looking for mentorship, guidance, and an opportunity to connect with others in the field. Meetings offer an opportunity to hear from experts in suicide prevention research and to showcase the work of ECIs.
Meetings are held monthly, September through May, and are designed to benefit Early Career Investigators by offering:
Meetings are designed to encourage information sharing, conversation, and connection. Meetings will include presentations from experts and leaders in suicide prevention research. They will also feature the work of early career investigators, offering an opportunity to showcase their emerging research, connect with others with similar interests, and receive supportive feedback from other researchers in the network. In addition, some meetings will focus on special topics that are of interest for early career researchers such as finding mentors, tips for obtaining funding, and other topics nominated by ECI members.
Upcoming Meetings
All meetings are held virtually at 12:00 pm ET. Please email SuicidePreventionRes@va.gov to be added to the ECI mailing list for calendar invites, updates, and resources.
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February 19, 2025 Guest Speaker: Dr. Zachary Cohen Dr. Zachary Cohen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology (Clinical Area) at the University of Arizona, where he directs the Personalized Treatment Lab. His research focuses on precision mental health treatments, aiming to answer the questions “How and For Whom do Treatments Work?” through data-driven approaches. His work integrates advanced quantitative methods, including machine learning, to develop clinical prediction models and decision support tools that personalize treatment. Some of Dr. Cohen's key contributions include the development of the Personalized Advantage Index (PAI), co-creating the RainFrog Digital Therapy ecosystem (a platform designed for scalable, evidence-based psychological interventions) with his mentor Dr. Michelle Craske at the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge, and designing and launching several mental health digital phenotyping studies. His work seeks to improve mental health treatment accessibility and improve outcomes, particularly for underserved populations. |
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March 19, 2025 Guest Speaker: Dr. Kate Comtois |
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April 16, 2025 |
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May 21, 2025 |
January 15, 2025
Navigating the Career Development Award Process
Panel: Dr. Yosef Sokol, Dr. Samantha Chalker, and Dr. Mary Jo Pugh
Yosef Sokol, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, a Research Health Scientist Specialist at the Bronx VA Medical Center, and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Doctoral PsyD program at Touro University. Dr. Sokol developed “Continuous Identity Cognitive Therapy (CI-CT),” a recovery-oriented treatment aimed at reconstructing positive identity, enhancing present-to-future self-narratives, and developing realistic hope. Funded in 2021, his VA CDA (CDA-2) from the Veteran Affairs, titled "Development of a Recovery Oriented Treatment for Post Acute Suicidal Episode (PASE) Veterans," supports his work on a recovery-oriented psychotherapy for Veterans following an acute suicidal episode.
Samantha A. Chalker, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, a Research Health Scientist Specialist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System, and an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Chalker was awarded a CDA (CDA-2) in 2022. Funded by the VA’s Rehabilitation Research & Development service, her CDA aims to develop a suicide prevention training and Peer Specialist-delivered intervention for Veterans with serious mental illness and increased acute suicide risk to support them in their recovery.
Mary Jo Pugh PhD, RN, is a retired Air Force nurse and Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Epidemiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She is an investigator at the Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences Center of Innovation (IDEAS COIN) and the VA Salt Lake City where she leads the COIN focus area that aims to identify and mitigate health risks in Veterans across periods of vulnerability. Her work has included serving as a reviewer for national funding agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the Veterans Administration, where she chaired the HSR&D career development panel. She also serves as a peer reviewer for scientific publications submitted to prominent scientific journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, Neurology, Medical Care, the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, Brain Injury, Epilepsia, Epilepsy and Behavior, and many others.
December 18, 2024
Supporting Relationships to Reduce Suicide Risk
Guest Speaker: Dr. Dev Crasta
Dr. Crasta is an Investigator at the Department of Veterans Affairs Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention and a Senior Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Crasta’s research works to incorporate family support into suicide prevention care. As part of a VA Career Development Award (CDA-2), he is conducting a trial evaluating “Relationship Checkups” for Veterans with positive mental health screens in the VA Finger Lakes Healthcare System. Dr. Crasta also supports other researchers hoping to involve Veterans’ families/friends in suicide prevention, such as developing content for the “Worried About a Veteran” initiative, and helping analyze results of family-focused suicide prevention trials.
November 20, 2024
Dr. Lindsey Monteith shared her important work in lethal means safety with diverse Veteran populations. Dr. Monteith’s research focuses on understanding how to prevent Veteran suicide in diverse Veteran populations, including women Veterans, survivors of interpersonal violence, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Veterans. She co-leads the Advancing Suicide PreventIon for undeRserved vEterans (ASPIRE) Lab at the VA Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center for Suicide Prevention, which focuses on reaching Veterans who historically have been underrepresented or underserved.
October 16, 2024
An overview of the Office of Research and Development’s Suicide Prevention Actively Managed Portfolio (SP-AMP). Guest Speaker: Dr. Joseph Constans
September 18, 2024
FY2025 ECI Meeting Kickoff
SPRINT Core investigators will share updates on recent and future SPRINT initiatives, an overview of FY2025 ECI meeting plans, and provide an opportunity to interact with fellow ECIs through an interactive breakout session.
May 15, 2024
Responding to Grant Proposal Critiques
SPRINT Core Investigators shared advice and led a discussion on best practices for navigating and responding to grant proposal review feedback.
April 24, 2024
Early Career Investigators Dr. Daniel Reis and Dr. Jaclyn Kearns presented on their current research. Dr. Kearns’ research focuses on identifying proximal, time-varying, and modifiable risk factors for suicide among individuals at high-risk for suicide during high-risk times (e.g., following discharge from acute inpatient psychiatry). Dr. Reis’s research is focused on the role that disruption of daily biobehavioral rhythms plays in suicide and upstream mood and sleep disturbances. He is also interested in how data gathered from wearable sensors can guide personalized and chronobiologically informed interventions, such as timed bright light exposure.
March 20, 2024
VA Operations Programming and Funding Opportunities
Drs. Watts and Vincenti from the Office of Rural Health and Ms. Lauver from the Suicide Prevention Program in the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention joined to discuss operations priority areas and program funding opportunities designed to support Veteran health and well-being. Discussion included ideas about how ECIs in the field of suicide prevention can pursue funding that supports VA operations programming and evaluation activities.
February 21, 2024
Dr. Craig Bryan delivered an engaging and inspirational presentation on his work blending suicide prevention research, clinical practice, and advocacy.
January 17, 2024
Drs. Jennifer Barredo and Jason Chen each presented on their Career Development Awards. Dr. Barredo shared an early look at her recently completed VA CSR&D funded CDA-2 titled, “Identification of Veterans at-risk for Suicide: A Multidisciplinary Approach.” Dr. Chen presented on his currently funded VA HSR&D CDA titled, "Enhancing Social Connectedness Among Veterans at High Risk for Suicide through Community Engagement."
December 20, 2023
Navigating the Career Development Award Process
Panel: Drs. Tate Halverson, Claire Houtsma, and Joseph Simonetti
Early career investigator panelists discussed their own unique experiences as CSR&D, HSR&D, and RR&D CDA awardees. The discussion provided a unique opportunity to delve into their research journeys, gain insights into their work, and understand the challenges and triumphs they have encountered.
November 15, 2023
Dr. Kimbrel is a SPRINT PI, the Co-Director for the Clinical Core of the Mid-Atlantic MIRECC, and an Associate Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Kimbrel’s primary areas of interest include the etiology, assessment, and treatment of self-injurious behaviors, PTSD, and depression. He is currently leading a genome-wide gene x environment interaction study (GEWIS) of suicidal thoughts and behaviors within the Million Veteran Program and several other projects that utilize big data and machine learning methods to predict suicide among Veterans. He discussed these projects, how to navigate and use large datasets, lessons learned, career development issues, and the importance of team science.
October 18, 2023
Dr. Brian Marx and Dr. Nicholas Livingston
Drs. Marx and Livingston discussed considerations and methods for working with large databases. The meeting included the opportunity to discuss existing suicide-related databases, tips for gaining access to these databases, and how ECIs can recognize opportunities to utilize large data sets in suicide prevention research. Dr. Livingston presented on Project Cope, and studies that utilize Commercial, Medicaid, and VHA claims data, and VHA electronic record clinical note data, with a focus on suicide mortality data. Discussions included a focus on mentoring and career development in the field of suicide prevention and precision medicine.
September 20, 2023
SPRINT Core investigators shared updates on recent and future SPRINT initiatives, an overview of FY2024 ECI meeting plans, and provided an opportunity to interact with fellow ECIs through an interactive breakout session.
June 21, 2023
Understanding the physiological and genetic components of mental health has been the focus of recent efforts to improve psychiatric treatment outcomes, including those for suicide prevention. A precision medicine approach incorporates these and other factors to improve prediction of risk, prognosis, and treatment response in a way that ultimately improves mental health outcomes. Most recently, Dr. Oslin completed the PRIME Care Clinical Trial, which evaluated the effects of pharmacogenomic testing on antidepressant treatment. To help us better understand this growing area of research, Dr. Oslin shared some key findings from his research, presented concepts in precision medicine, and discussed applications of genetics in clinical practice.
February 22, 2023
Dr. King shared her impactful work with adolescents and their families/peers and discussed potential applications to our work with Veterans and their families. As a prominent mentor in the field of suicide prevention, Dr. King facilitated a discussion on future directions for the field of suicide prevention and how Early Career Investigators can make a meaningful impact.
August 24, 2022
SPRINT Early Career Investigator Meeting Kick-Off
This was the initial meeting for this group. The agenda included a welcome and introduction of SPRINT and ECI members, a look forward to future ECI meetings, and information about the restructuring of the Office of Research & Development (ORD).
