All-Cause Mortality in Veterans and previously served on the Committee on Evaluation of Research Management by Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program.

DIANA E. CLARKE is the senior/managing director of research and senior epidemiologist/research statistician at the American Psychiatric Association. She is also an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Clarke is president-elect for the International Academy of Suicide Research and has been an active member of the organization’s board since 2020. She is also a certified mental health counselor. Clarke conducts research on the assessment and prevention of mental and substance use disorders with specific interest in understanding the underlying causes of suicide and suicidal behaviors. Her research also addresses the cultural context of suicide and suicidal behaviors and how cultural humility can lead to more informed prevention strategies. Clarke served on advisory panels for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and the executive committee of Friends of National Institute of Mental Health to help inform the future of funding for research on mental disorders including suicide. In addition, she has served as a grant reviewer for organizations such as PCORI and scientific officer for the Canadian Cancer Education and Research Network. She completed her graduate training in epidemiology at the University of Toronto and postdoctoral training in psychiatric epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

DANIEL FRIEND is a principal researcher in Mathematica’s Human Services division. He is also an adjunct faculty at two universities: the University of Illinois Chicago Public Health Department and the School of Psychology at DePaul University. Friend is an expert in behavioral health, behavior change theory, and implementations science. For over a decade, he has applied this knowledge to help the federal government—and others—develop, implement, and evaluate a range of health and human service programs. Currently, Friend is the principal investigator for the evaluation of the statewide California youth and behavioral health initiative and a project for the Administration for Children and Families aimed at improving healthy relationship and parenting services for Tribal/Indigenous communities. He holds an M.S. in psychology from the University of Oregon and a Ph.D. in public health and community health sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

BERNICE A. PESCOSOLIDO is distinguished professor of sociology and director of the Irsay Institute for the Sociomedical Sciences at Indiana University. As a medical sociologist and network scientist, her research

has focused on issues of suicide, mental illness and stigma. Drawing from classic work on suicide, Pescosolido has translated an early theory of group relationships into social network terms, developed direct and indirect measures of connectedness, and broken through data barriers in the study of completed suicide through harmonization of the U.S. Census’ American Community Study and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Violent Death Reporting System. She has received career awards from the American Sociological Association and the American Public Health Association. An elected member of both the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and the National Academy of Sciences, Pescosolido currently serves on NAM’s Governing Council.

ELLYSON R. STOUT is the Education Development Center’s (EDC’s) U.S. director of community suicide prevention and serves as director of EDC’s subcontract supporting the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 988 Communications Support Contract. She previously led the national Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and served as a program manager and behavior change communication director for PSI, an international public health social marketing company. Stout brings a background in global and U.S. public health, health communications, and behavioral health and suicide prevention. She has expertise in dissemination and implementation science and has worked for more than 17 years with states, tribes, communities, schools, and health systems to help fit bring national best practice guidance to their local context, culture, and assets. Stout is skilled in presenting complex information, providing coaching and consultation to diverse audiences, and working across a wide variety of settings, populations, and health outcomes. She is a Peter F. Krogh scholar and a Schweitzer fellow for life and received multiple academic honors in her studies. Stout is a member of the American Public Health Association and the International Association for Suicide Prevention and serves on several advisory groups and expert panels. Her undergraduate training is in international politics, and her graduate degree is in health communication.

COLIN G. WALSH joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University as assistant professor of biomedical informatics, medicine, and psychiatry and was later promoted to associate professor. His research includes machine learning to enable clinical decision support, scalable phenotyping with structured and unstructured clinical data, and public health informatics for preventive healthcare artificial intelligence. Walsh is a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics, the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics, and the American Medical Informatics Association. He received a degree in mechanical engineering from Princeton University and his medical degree from the University of Chicago. Walsh completed residency

and chief residency in internal medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. Following residency, he received his primary professional degree in biomedical informatics in postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University under research mentor George Hripcsak.

SPEAKERS

EBONY AKINSANYA is a distinguished public health leader with more than 25 years of experience in forging transformative partnerships, driving innovative program implementation, and optimizing resources to expand reach and impact. Her professional journey reflects a steadfast commitment to advancing public health outcomes through strategic thinking and operational excellence. As the Director of Non-Infectious Disease Programs at the CDC Foundation, Akinsanya leads a dynamic team in developing and promoting cutting-edge public health strategies and innovations. She is instrumental in fostering collaboration among internal and external stakeholders to scale initiatives, amplify impact, and support critical public health missions. Akinsanya’s leadership spans several key areas, including evaluating veteran suicide prevention programs, enhancing maternal health outcomes, and empowering community-based organizations through capacity-building frameworks. In her previous roles, she thrived as an independent management consultant and public health privacy officer, spearheading initiatives to improve vocational rehabilitation services, ensure HIPAA compliance, and develop peer recovery coaching programs. Earlier in Akinsanya’s career, she passionately advocated for HIV/AIDS communities, secured vital federal funding, and designed impactful health programs for underserved rural populations.

ALEX E. CROSBY currently serves as a professor in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at the Morehouse School of Medicine. He previously worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 30 years responding to numerous public health emergencies addressing suicide clusters, civil unrest, school-associated violence, sniper attacks, firearm-related injuries, and the response to hurricanes, Ebola, and Coronavirus. Crosby has authored or co-authored more than 125 publications. His work focuses on prevention of suicidal behavior, child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, interpersonal violence among adolescents, and assault injuries among minorities. Crosby graduated with a B.A. in chemistry from Fisk University, an M.D. from Howard University’s College of Medicine, and an M.P.H. in health administration and management from Emory University’s School of Public Health. He completed training in Family Medicine at Howard University Hospital, General Preventive Medicine and Public Health at Morehouse School of Medicine

and the Georgia Division of Public Health, and epidemiology at the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service.

MARY F. CWIK is a licensed psychologist, associate director, and senior scientist at the Center for Indigenous Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with a joint appointment in psychiatry at the School of Medicine. For the past 20 years, she has focused on suicide, substance use, and trauma, particularly in addressing Native American mental health disparities. In partnership with the White Mountain Apache Tribe, Cwik’s work has identified key risk and protective factors—including cultural identity—and supported interventions linked to reduced suicide rates. She is a Johns Hopkins distinguished alumna and has served on several local and national suicide prevention committees, including for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Cwik holds a B.A. in psychology and philosophy from Johns Hopkins University, a Ph.D. in child clinical psychology from Southern Illinois University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Johns Hopkins.

CARRIE M. FARMER is codirector of the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute, a senior policy researcher at RAND, and director of the RAND Health Care Quality Measurement and Improvement Program. For two decades, her research has focused on improving access to high-quality health care for veterans, service members, and their families. Farmer’s work has included evaluations of the quality of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care, development of standards for high-quality mental health and traumatic brain injury care for veterans, systematic reviews of long-term outcomes for veterans with traumatic brain injury, state-based veteran needs assessments, and studies to assess the capacity of community providers to meet the health care needs of veterans. She has testified on access to VA health care before the U.S. Senate. Farmer holds a Ph.D. in health policy from Harvard University and a B.A. in psychobiology from Wellesley College.

NOVALENE ALSENAY GOKLISH is a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe and has been an integral part of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Indigenous Health for more than 28 years. With her experience as a behavioral health interventionist, she has dedicated her career to improving the mental and physical well-being of her White Mountain Apache community. In Alsenay Goklish’s current role as assistant scientist, she manages more than 15 mental and behavioral health initiatives focused on the health and resilience of Native American populations. At the beginning of her career, she began working with Native American pregnant teens, teaching prenatal wellness and parenting skills at Family Spirit. Today,

Family Spirit is recognized as an evidence-based model and is used in over 130 Native American and minority communities across the United States. In addition to her work on Family Spirit, Alsenay Goklish has contributed to a variety of behavioral health intervention projects aimed at addressing pressing issues within Native communities. These include programs focused on teen pregnancy prevention, youth entrepreneurship, and mental health support for at-risk youth. One of her key initiatives is the Celebrating Life Suicide Prevention Program, which provides critical support to community members who experienced binge substance use, non-suicidal self-injury, or suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Alsenay Goklish earned a B.S. in business management with an emphasis in community health education from the University of Phoenix, a M.S. in professional counseling from Grand Canyon University, and a Ph.D. in behavioral health from Arizona State University.

BRANDI JANCAITIS currently serves as the director of the Virginia Veteran and Family Support (VVFS) Program at the Virginia Department of Veterans Services (VDVS). VVFS is a statewide program that provides peer and family support and behavioral health and supportive services linkages to military service members, veterans, and their families. Also, in her current role with VVFS, Jancaitis oversees the Suicide Prevention and Opioid Addiction Services community and research grant program team. She also leads regional and statewide suicide prevention efforts for military and veterans including the Richmond Mayor’s Suicide Prevention Challenge and statewide Governor’s Suicide Prevention Challenge teams. Jancaitis also served as the director of housing development for veterans for VDVS and worked on the statewide effort to reach the functional end to veteran homelessness in Virginia. At the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, she served as the first Military and Veterans Affairs director and helped enhance treatment and supportive services in the public mental health system. Jancaitis is a graduate of Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University, an Army veteran spouse, and mother of three.

RICHARD McKEON is currently Senior Advisor in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 988 and Crisis Office after serving for 12 years as chief for the Suicide Prevention Branch in the Center for Mental Health Services where he oversaw all branch suicide prevention activities, including the Garrett Lee Smith State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention, and Campus Suicide Prevention grant programs, the Zero Suicide initiative, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and the Native Connections program. He has long worked with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, including establishing the foundation for 988 as the national suicide prevention number. Previously, McKeon was appointed by

the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to the Secretary’s Blue Ribbon Work Group on Suicide Prevention and later appointed by the Secretary of Defense to the Department of Defense Task Force on Suicide Prevention in the Military. He served on the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention Task Force that revised the 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services project management team coordinating the 2024 revision of the U.S. National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. He also participated in the development of the World Health Organization’s first World Suicide Prevention Report. McKeon has spent most of his career working in community mental health, including 11 years as director of a psychiatric emergency service and four years as associate administrator/clinical director of a hospital-based community mental health center in Newton, New Jersey. He was awarded an American Psychological Association Congressional Fellowship and worked in the United States Senate for Sen. Paul Wellstone, covering health and mental health policy issues. McKeon was also awarded the American Association for Suicidology Dublin Award for Lifetime Achievement in Suicide Prevention and was a finalist for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal for his contribution to the establishment of 988 as the new U.S. national suicide prevention and mental health crisis number. He spent five years on the board of the American Association of Suicidology as clinical division director and has also served on the board of the Division of Clinical Psychology of the American Psychological Association. McKeon received an M.P.H. in health administration from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Arizona.

MATTHEW MILLER is the executive director of the Office of Suicide Prevention (OSP) where he leads a team dedicated to the implementation and reinforcement of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA’s) top clinical priority: preventing veteran suicide. OSP engages a public health approach to suicide prevention, integrating evidenced-based community and clinical interventions, strategic planning, program operations, program evaluation, and crisis services through the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL). Under his leadership, the VCL became the world’s largest and most efficient suicide crisis call center and in 2022, expanded their life-saving services by implementing Dial 988 then Press 1. Miller has a focus on leading-edge technology and pioneering suicide prevention ideas and solutions through efforts like Mission Daybreak. He fosters non-traditional collaborations, recognizing the value of diverse perspectives and partnerships in achieving the shared goal of saving lives. Miller leads the team from a perspective that everyone plays a role in preventing veteran suicide. He began his VA career as the chief of mental health at Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center in Saginaw, Michigan, where he later became the deputy chief of staff. Miller

was responsible for overseeing outpatient mental health operations for all service members and dependents within the installation community. In addition, he was head of the installation’s suicide prevention, alcohol and drug demand reduction, critical incident response, and family advocacy programs. He is an Air Force Veteran. Miller received an M.P.H. from the University of Michigan and Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He completed his professional residency in clinical psychology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center and served as the chief of mental health at a Joint Services Pilot Training Wing.

JEFF NIEDERDEPPE is senior associate dean of faculty development in the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and the Liberty Hyde Bailey professor of communication and public policy at Cornell University. He is founding co-director of the Collaborative on Media and Messaging for Health and Social Policy (commhsp.org) and co-director of the Cornell Center for Health Equity. Niederdeppe’s research examines the design and impact of media campaigns, strategic messages, news coverage, and social media content in shaping health behavior and social policy. He has published more than 220 peer-reviewed articles in communication, public health, health policy, and medicine journals, and his work has been funded in recent years by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Niederdeppe was elected as a fellow of the International Communication Association. He serves on the editorial boards for seven journals in communication and public health. Niederdeppe currently serves on the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies, is a member of the consensus committee for a forthcoming National Academies report on Understanding Breastfeeding Promotion, Initiation and Support Across the United States, and previously served on the consensus committee for a 2018 National Academies report on Getting to Zero Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities: A Comprehensive Approach to a Persistent Problem.

TANHA PATEL is a nationally recognized expert in public health evaluation with over 15 years of experience designing and implementing evaluations of community-based and systems-level initiatives. She currently serves as a senior technical advisor at the CDC Foundation, where she leads national evaluation efforts focused on maternal and infant health, veteran suicide prevention, and evaluation capacity-building among community-based organizations. Patel has developed and implemented evaluation toolkits, facilitated national trainings, and supported the strategic use of data for more than 100 health care and public health professionals. Her leadership has advanced the understanding of how non-clinical, community-rooted programs contribute to suicide prevention and overall public health impact. Patel has

administered mini-grants and provided individualized technical assistance to veteran-serving organizations to strengthen their capacity to document outcomes and build sustainable, evidence-informed non-clinical suicide prevention programs. Previously, she led evaluation efforts at the University of North Carolina and Wake Forest School of Medicine, where she guided multi-million-dollar National Institutes of Health–funded programs in translational research and learning health system transformation. Patel’s work has been published in leading journals including Learning Health Systems and the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. She brings a deep commitment to translating evaluation findings into actionable strategies that enhance the effectiveness of comprehensive suicide prevention efforts.

KRISTEN QUINLAN is a senior research scientist at the Education Development Center, where she serves as a senior research advisor for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. In this role, she supports the Progress, Accountability, and Data Advisory Group, which is working to develop and launch a framework for tracking progress on the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. Working closely with public and private sector partners, Quinlan is currently drafting the National Strategy’s Theory of Change Framework. This role demands proficiency in developing complex, nested logic models that reflect the functioning of a national system, a comprehensive understanding of the landscape of suicide prevention across the nation, effective leadership in engaging cross-agency and cross-sector partners, and a strong familiarity with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other national surveillance systems. Throughout her career, Quinlan has been dedicated to enhancing evaluation capacity within grassroots agencies, communities, and states. As the director of evaluation for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration–funded Suicide Prevention Technical Assistance Center, she evaluates the operational effectiveness of the national center and supports grantees in their evaluation-related needs. Quinlan is deeply committed to injury control and prevention, co-founding the Intersectional Council Workgroup for Suicide Prevention in the American Public Health Association. This initiative aims to engage all 32 member sections in promoting the importance of public health approaches to suicide and violence prevention. Quinlan has served as adjunct faculty for the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College, teaching in the Psychology and Women’s Studies Departments. She has more than 15 years of experience in working in public health. Quinlan received a Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island in behavioral science with a focus on research methods.

DAVID C. ROZEK is a board-certified clinical psychologist and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He serves as the director of strategy and evaluation for the STRONG STAR Training Initiative and the Senior Scientific Advisor for Face the Fight, a national suicide prevention initiative focused on scaling evidence-based interventions for veterans. Rozek’s research and clinical work focus on cognitive and behavioral therapies for suicide, PTSD, and depression, with a strong emphasis on increasing access to effective care through real-world implementation strategies. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Boeing Corporation, USAA, and state and local agencies to advance suicide prevention and trauma recovery efforts across diverse populations, including military personnel, first responders, and high-risk civilians. Rozek has published over 40 peer-reviewed scientific articles and delivered more than 50 invited talks and conference presentations. His trainings have reached thousands of mental health professionals, peer specialists, and public safety personnel both nationally and internationally. He is committed to bridging the gap between research and practice to improve mental health outcomes in underserved and high-risk communities. Rozek received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Notre Dame, completed his residency at the Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuroscience at the University of Utah.

CORBIN J. STANDLEY is a community psychologist and researcher with more than a decade of experience in research, evaluation, and policy. His career has focused on public health and community-level approaches to suicide prevention through capacity-building, equitable systems change, and policy change. Standley has published numerous research articles and book chapters and has presented his research at multiple national and international conferences. As the senior director of impact communication and continuous improvement at American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), he leads the continuous improvement and evaluation of AFSP and partnership programs and initiatives; drives impact communication efforts to disseminate AFSP’s reach and impact; and drives organizational learning through needs assessments, continuous improvement approaches, and special evaluation initiatives. Standley’s dedication to community-engaged scholarship earned him the American Association of Suicidology’s Citizen Scientist Award and multiple nominations for Forbes 30 Under 30 for Science. He has also used his research to inform policy work in providing testimony, helping to draft legislation, and working with legislators to prevent suicide. These efforts earned Standley the Sandy Martin Grassroots Field Advocate for the Year Award from AFSP. His commitment to amplifying and empowering voices in evaluation earned him an American Evaluation Association President’s Award. He earned a B.S. in psychology from

Weber State University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in ecological-community psychology from Michigan State University.

CHRISTINE WALRATH is a senior vice president and chief science officer in public health at ICF and brings more than 25 years of expertise in behavioral health research and community-based program evaluation. Her experience has been dedicated to understanding the patterns, characteristics, and outcomes of individuals at risk for suicidal behavior or experiencing mental illness, focusing on areas such as prevention and service system response, child traumatic stress, school-based mental health, co-occurring disorders, serious emotional disorders and mental illness, and engagement of individuals with lived experience. Walrath has supported the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) on numerous high-priority behavioral health initiatives, serving as principal investigator of large-scale, national evaluations of SAMHSA-funded programs, including the Garrett Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention Program, the Zero Suicide Program, and the 988 Lifeline and Crisis Services initiative. Her recent work includes designing and implementing multimodal, multilevel, and multisite approaches to data collection; developing instruments; analyzing large-scale primary and extant behavioral health data; using data to drive program and practice; providing training and technical assistance in the areas of data collection, management, and submission; and disseminating research findings to diverse audiences. Walrath has a dual background in community psychology and public mental health and began her career at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she still holds an adjunct faculty position.

ITZHAK YANOVITZKY is professor of communication and professor of public health at Rutgers University. He is an expert in the areas of behavior change communication, translational research, and program evaluation. Yanovitzky’s program of research explores effective mechanisms for communicating complex information to diverse audiences and improving use of evidence in health policymaking and practice settings. He has extensive experience partnering with collaborators across academic disciplines and sectors to address a range of public health problems, including most recent efforts to address the opioid epidemic and the rising toll of youth depression and suicide. Yanovitzky is past chair of the Health Communication Division of the International Communication Association and a past member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Standing Committee on Advancing Science Communication.