RESE ARCH
A $38 million grant has been awarded to the OU Health Sciences Center for suicide prevention efforts.
Pediatrics Faculty Members Lead Major Suicide Prevention Grant The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center has been awarded a five-year, $38 million grant to lead and expand a national program dedicated to suicide prevention. The grant will be led by Dolores Subia BigFoot, Ph.D., a professor in the OU College of Medicine and a longtime researcher and organizer of suicide prevention efforts. Suicide prevention has always been a priority in the mental health community, but the new grant is especially timely as the nation faces increased stressors because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic toll, as well as racial injustice and inequality.
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“We’re coming into this at a very important time,” BigFoot said. “We’re in a new era in which the suicide risk may increase. We want to increase our resources and grow a network of safety for people at risk of suicide.” During the five-year grant period, BigFoot and her team will be furthering the work of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, an organization funded by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. More than 48,000 people in America died by suicide in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and from 1999 through 2018, the suicide rate increased 35%. Suicide is complex and requires a multifaceted approach, but it is
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