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Taking Action: Implementing the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention Conference

December 3 - 5, 2003
New Orleans, LA

Speaker Biographies

(In Alphabetical Order)

Lidia Bernik
Lidia Bernik serves as Program Coordinator for the Suicide Prevention Action Network USA, Inc. She recently completed her degree requirements for a Masters in Health Science from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Prior to that, she worked for two years as a corporate paralegal in New York City. She graduated from Cornell University, with distinction, in 2000 with a B.S. in Human Service Studies. She spent two summers during college interning at the Westchester Division of New York Presbyterian Hospital working with persons with anxiety and personality disorders. She is a suicide survivor, having lost her older sister in the year 2000.

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Iris Bolton
Iris Bolton is the Executive Director of The Link Counseling Center's National Resource Center for Suicide Prevention and Aftercare. Iris graduated from Columbia University, completed further studies in counseling at Georgia State University and majored in Suicidology at Emory University. She is the co-founder of the North Atlanta, Georgia Chapter of The Compassionate Friends. She also founded the Survivors of Suicide Support Groups in metro Atlanta, and the S.O.S. Support Team, providing home visits to the bereaved. She authored My Son.My Son, a Guide to Healing After Death, Loss, or Suicide, a book about the survival of her family in the aftermath of the suicide of her son. She is married to Jack Bolton and is the mother of four sons.

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Dr. Frank Campbell
Dr. Frank Campbell serves as Executive Director of the Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention Center, inc. and the Crisis Center Foundation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United Sates of America. He is a past president of the American Association of Suicidology, certified in Thanatology, and has delivered over fifty national and international presentations, published articles, and is currently writing a book on metaphors for healing from sudden and traumatic loss. Frank has co-facilitated a weekly SOS group since 1986 and has participated in approximately 800 group sessions. The Active Postvention Model (LOSS Team) he developed will be featured in an upcoming documentary for the Discovery Channel to be released worldwide early in 2004.

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Andrea Charbonneau
Andrea Charbonneau is a general internist, who joined the Division of General and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center in July, 2003. She is a clinician investigator with research and clinical interests in health promotion and disease prevention. She led a health services grant during her fellowship, during which she and a multidisciplinary research team profiled the quality of depression care in the VA using administrative and centralized pharmacy data. She worked with the Massachusetts Suicide Prevention Working Group during her fellowship. She is passionately motivated to reduce suicide, as her beloved sister, Gina, died by suicide in 1995. She completed a general medicine fellowship at Boston University, an internal medicine residency at Brown University, a medical degree at New York Medical College, and an undergraduate degree in religion at Columbia University. She was raised in Massachusetts.

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CAPT Clara H. Cobb
CAPT Clara H. Cobb is a 24-year career officer for the U. S. Public Health Service (PHS). She attended Oakwood College, Hunstville Alabama and graduated from Columbia Union College, Takoma Park, MD, 1977, with a BSN. She completed her MSN, as a Family Nurse Practitioner, at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, 1979. During her career, she has held various challenging assignments with a host of federal agencies including, a Community Health Center in Albany/Leesburg, GA; Federal Occupational Health, Health Care Financing Administration, Health Resources Services Administration, and Office on Women's Health, within Regional Offices of the Public Health Service in Kansas, MO, and Atlanta, GA. CAPT Cobb is currently the Deputy Regional Health Administrator and Acting Regional Health Administrator for U.S. Public Health Service Region IV in Atlanta, GA.

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Kenneth Conner, PsyD, MPH
Kenneth Conner, PsyD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center where he conducts research in the Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide. His research is focused on the role of alcohol and interpersonal aggression in suicidal behavior, and he has published several articles on these topics including in the American Journal of Psychiatry and the American Journal of Public Health. In 2000, the U.S. National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) awarded him a five-year research award (K23) titled "Alcoholism and suicide." He also has a grant funded by the National Institute on mental Health to study suicide in China. In April 2003 he was presented the Edwin Shneidman Award by the American Association of Suicidology for outstanding early career contribution to suicide research.

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Charles G. Curie M.A., A.C.S.W.

Charles G. Curie M.A., A.C.S.W., was appointed by President George W. Bush in November 2001 as administrator of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA is the lead federal agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services in the United States. Curie has more than 20 years of professional experience in the mental health and substance abuse arena. His core commitment is to ensure that people with addictive and mental disorders have the opportunity to realize the dream of equal access to full participation in American society has earned him national recognition. Before joining SAMHSA, Curie was appointed by former Governor Tom Ridge as deputy secretary for mental health and substance abuse services for the Department of Public Welfare of the State of Pennsylvania. During his tenure, he implemented a nationally recognized mental health and drug and alcohol Medicaid managed care program. He also established and implemented a policy to reduce and ultimately eliminate the use of seclusion and restraint practices in the state hospital system. The program won the 2000 Innovations in American Government Award sponsored by Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Ford Foundation, and the Council on Excellence in Government. Previously, Curie was the Director of Risk Management Services for Henry S. Lehr Inc. in Bethlehem; President/CEO of the Helen H. Stevens Community Mental Health Center in Carlisle, Cumberland County; and Executive Director/CEO of the Sandusky Valley Center in Tiffin, Ohio.

Curie is a graduate of Huntington College, Indiana, and holds a Master's Degree from the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration. He is also certified by the Academy of Certified Social Workers. A native of Indiana, Curie and his wife Candace reside in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.



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Anthony R. D'Augelli, Ph.D.
Anthony R. D'Augelli, Ph.D. is a community psychologist and Professor of Human Development in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University. His research focuses on the challenges faced by lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths, especially victimization based on their sexual identity. He is the co editor of three books that review contemporary psychological research on sexual orientation, Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identities over the Lifespan (1995), Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identities in Families (1998), and Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identities and Youth (2001), all published by Oxford University Press. Currently he has two National Institute of Mental Health-funded grants, one concerning lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth and the other on factors leading to risky sexual behavior among men in rural communities.

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Brian Dyak
Brian Dyak has been successfully involved in building a bridge between the entertainment industry and health and social issues since 1983. He is Executive Producer of the PRISM AwardsT, the entertainment industry's annual recognition of television shows, feature films and music, which accurately portray drug, alcohol and tobacco use and addiction. Now in its 8th year, the PRISM Awards, previously syndicated to 96% of U.S. TV households, will be the first awards special of the FX Network, airing in May 2003. Mr. Dyak serves as the founding President and CEO of the Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. (EIC). Mr. Dyak has led efforts in the development of television and motion picture "depiction suggestions" on seat belt use; women and alcohol; the hearing impaired; the elderly; mental health; drug abuse and addiction; HIV/AIDS; organ donation and transplantation; gun violence and injury prevention; and terrorism, narco-terrorism and homeland security. He is publisher of Spotlight on Depiction of Health and Social Issues, a resource encyclopedia provided to the entertainment industry's creative community. Dyak also developed and launched First DraftT, a technical referral service that provides entertainment creators seeking accurate information on numerous health and social issues with scientific and technical experts. He is the creator of a number of significant national media projects that address health and social issues. Additionally, Mr. Dyak created the landmark national media campaigns "Stop The Madness," a drug awareness campaign and partnership with CBS, "Facts For Life," a national television network campaign about HIV/AIDS, and "Buckle Up," a national cause-oriented marketing and merchandising campaign featuring "The Incredible Crash Dummies." Having served for 20 years as the Entertainment Industries Council, Inc.'s President and CEO, Brian Dyak has a long-standing commitment to working with entertainment creators to produce original and compelling, high-quality entertainment, while at the same time addressing health and social issues in the most accurate ways possible.

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Clark Flatt

Clark Flatt, BS Business Management/M.Div-Education/Counseling is the President/CEO and founder of The Jason Foundation, Inc. (JFI). JFI's mission is the awareness and prevention of youth suicide by providing educational programs, tools, and resources to students, educators/youth workers, and parents. The theme - "Education is the building block to Prevention".

The Jason Foundation began October 1997 and is a non-profit 501 © (3) organization. JFI has 21 regional offices nationally. JFI's National Clinical Affiliate is Ardent Health Services which is instrumental in community outreach nationally. JFI also has two National Awareness Affiliates. The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) with a membership of over 10,000 high school, college, and professional colleges works daily with JSI offices across the nation as "State Ambassadors" for JFI. Tyrone Willingham (Notre Dame); Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee); Dennis Franchione (Texas A&M); Ron Zook (Florida); Jim Tressel (Ohio); and Mark Richt (Georgia) are a sampling of support received from the AFCA. Also, the USE Wrestling organization which oversees all middle school, high school, college, and Olympic wrestling competition in the nation has recently signed to work in a similar manner as the AFCA with The Jason Foundation.

The Jason Foundation is proud of Project Tennessee which has become a model for implementation of school-based curriculum for youth suicide awareness and prevention. In Tennessee, the curriculum is in annual use by 569 schools that are targeting annually over 320,000 students. JFI also offers an In-Service Seminar for educators and youth workers as well as Parent Seminar that educates participants on the awareness, "signs of concerns", and local resources that are available. JFI is a member of the National Council for Suicide Prevention as well as a member of the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network.

The Jason Foundation was begun after the tragic suicide death of Mr. Flatt's youngest son, Jason - age 16, on July 16, 1997. Mr. Flatt's oldest son, John Flatt M.D., also serves as the Corporate Vice President of JFI.



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Janet Grossman, DNSc, CS
Janet Grossman, DNSc, CS, Charleston, SC Associate Professor of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Charleston, SC

My educational background includes advanced practice nursing child psychiatry nursing, a doctorate in psychiatric nursing research, and training in family psychotherapy. I am the Coordinator of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Practitioner Program at the MUSC College of Nursing. My academic career has focused on the education of advanced practice psychiatric nurses and the development of academic child psychiatric nursing. My current clinical practice is in the interdisciplinary Charleston Family Recovery Court. I have been extensively involved in the dissemination to recovering, court-involved parents and their children of an exemplary evidence-based family intervention, Kumpfer's Strengthening Family Program, in Charleston, Miami, and Newark. I am also involved in the development of nursing roles and benchmarking evaluation for therapeutic courts. I am a co-investigator of federally funded school based clinic and youth smoking cessation grants and an evaluator in a grant on MST in juvenile drug court.

In addition to involvement in the family drug court movement, mood disorders and suicide prevention and research have been my clinical and research foci for 23 years. My activities have included providing mental health services to suicidal persons and survivors, coordinating a federally funded study of depression in children and a youth psychological autopsy study, developing a child and parent suicide survivor program, being a coinvestigator of the Ronald McDonald Children's Charities (RMHC, Grossman, Kruesi & Hirsch, 1993) funded project in youth suicide prevention and conducting multiple clinical studies of youth suicide and violence survivors. In the RMHC project, we disseminated means restriction, assessment of suicidal risk, and postvention training in suicide prevention for gatekeepers (including 155 Chicago schools) and published multiple evaluation studies in means restriction. The project received the Reiger Service Program Award from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. I have been involved in consumer partnerships through my long-term association and collaboration with the Weyrauchs (founders of the Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network {SPAN}). I am currently a member of the SPAN Design Work Group working on the evaluation of a school dissemination of suicide prevention in GA and a member of the Methodology Task Force Subgroup of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Expert Panel for Evidence-based Program in Suicide Prevention (supported by the SPRC and SAMHSA).

I have also been the Prevention Division Director of the American Association of Sociology (AAS) for 2 years. I prepared quarterly columns on program evaluation information targeted towards interventionists in community programs in suicide prevention for the AAS Newslink. More recently, I coordinated the first Guide project in suicide, a systematic review of the effectiveness of 16 universal and selective suicide interventions (primarily school-based programs), a collaboration of AAS and the New Hampshire Foundation. This project serves as a building block for the work of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center's review of best practices in suicide prevention.



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Jimmy Guidry, M.D.

Jimmy Guidry, M.D., is currently the State Health Officer of Louisiana, and also serves as the Medical Director for the Department of Health & Hospitals (DHH). Prior to this,

Dr. Guidry served as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Public Health from October, 1996 through January, 2000, and as Medical Director of the Acadian Region from April 1990 through April, 1991. In addition, Dr. Guidry served as Director of Adolescent Services at LSU School of Medicine, Pediatric Department, Earl K. Long Hospital from January 1985 to March, 1990. He also worked in Pediatric Private Practice from July, 1981 through December, 1984.

Dr. Guidry presently chairs various task forces, including the DHH Obesity Task Force, the Child Death Review Panel, and the Governor's Task Force on Tuberculosis.

He has received numerous awards and honors. He is well respected among his peers, and is sought-after for many speaking engagements. He also represents the state of Louisiana at many medical and environmental engagements across the country.

He received his Bachelors of Science from the University of Southwestern in 1974, earned his doctorate from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in 1978, and completed his residency at Earl K. Long Hospital in 1981. He has been Board Certified since 1984 and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Guidry has a strong interest in the medical care of the citizens of Louisiana and works diligently towards the delivery of services in our state.



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Pam Harrington
Pam Harrington is a board member and Florida Representative for SPAN USA (Suicide Prevention Action Network). She is the co-founder and President of The Beth Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization providing suicide prevention "Gatekeeper" training for Florida agencies and communities. She has played an active role in advancing suicide prevention in Florida as a founding member of Governor Bush's Suicide Prevention Task Force and the Florida Suicide Prevention Coalition. Pam is a survivor, having lost her daughter, Beth, to suicide in 1997.

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John Hellsten, Ph.D.

John Hellsten, Ph.D., Professional experience includes 15 years providing direct services to children in residential treatment and public schools. The past 10 years I have been involved with HIV community planning, child fatality review, and suicide prevention as an epidemiologist at the Texas Department of Health. I am currently working in Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance division establishing policies and procedures for data collection and reporting.

Education includes undergraduate degrees in Criminal Justice and Elementary Education, Masters level coursework in Counseling, and a PhD in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine. My dissertation examined the role of 'opportunity', i.e. firearm availability & social isolation, in urban suicide rates.



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Patricia Horgas RN, MSN, PhD(c)

Patti received a Master's Degree in Public Health and Nursing from Johns Hopkins University and is completing her PhD in Violence Prevention at Johns Hopkins University in the Schools of Nursing and Public Health as a National Institutes of Mental Health Violence Prevention Fellow. Her research focus is the intersection of trauma and suicide and traumatic grief in suicide survivors.

She has provided therapeutic counseling services to children, adolescents and their families specializing in working with traumatized children, suicidal individuals, and suicide survivors. She has worked in school settings to provide crisis management and grief response counseling for children and the staff working with them. She has run suicide bereavement and bereavement groups for children and adults and has provided crisis response services for a variety of workplaces and settings following traumatic events.

Patti has held leadership positions in healthcare facilities; including owning and operating mental health treatment programs and special education programs for emotionally disturbed youth. She has conducted research on suicide and mental health issues, has worked with communities to develop public awareness campaigns regarding depression and suicide, and worked with Departments of Health, Mental Health and Education as well as state legislations to address mental health and suicide prevention issues. She has held leadership positions as an advocate for suicide and intentional violence prevention, including holding the position of Executive Director of Marylanders Against Youth Suicide, a suicide prevention organization, and being on the Board of Directors of The American Association of Suicidology. She is a former member of the faculty of the National Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide at the Washington School of Psychiatry and was an invited member of the Intentional Violence Workgroup for Healthy People 2010.



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Jack Jordan
Jack Jordan is a psychologist in private practice in Sherborn, Massachusetts, where he specializes in working with loss and bereavement. He is also the founder and Director of the Family Loss Project, a research and clinical group providing services for bereaved families. He has worked with survivors of suicide and other losses for more than 25 years, and is the co-author of a new book for survivors titled After Suicide Loss: Coping with Your Grief. He has also published articles in professional journals about grief counseling, support groups, and the particular bereavement experience of suicide survivors. Jack provides training nationally for therapists and other healthcare professionals through the American Academy of Bereavement (Center for Hospice & Palliative Care, Buffalo, NY) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, where he is on the Board of Directors of the New England Chapter of AFSP. He is the also a Co-Principal Investigator on a research project to increase our knowledge about the problems, support needs, and coping resources of suicide survivors.

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Merily H. Keller, B.S.

Merily H. Keller, B.S., Univ. of Texas at Austin & MPH Graduate Student., UT-Houston Health Science Center.

After 25 years in advertising and public relations specializing in work with professional associations, non-profits, and professional firms, Merily H. Keller, changed careers to work in public health. As a University of Houston Health Science Center MPH graduate student, Keller has completed all course work and is working on her thesis on suicide prevention policy.

As an advocate, Keller worked with an interim committee of the Texas State Legislature on a study of suicide in the state, and helped support the introduction HB 1490 bill (which did not pass last session) to create a Texas Suicide Prevention Council to establish a state-mandated suicide prevention plan. She was a member of the Texas State Suicide Prevention Plan Steering Committee which formulated a grassroots State Plan for Suicide Prevention. She is currently coleading the newly formed TX Suicide Prevention Network to help carry out that plan through community-based coalitions in Texas. She has helped coordinate 10 community listening sessions on suicide prevention throughout the state, and the coalition has targeted the initiation of 10 more communities for 2004.

She is a board member of the Mental Health Association of Texas, a founding board member of the Central Texas Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and a member of the Public Policy Task Force of the American Association of Suicidology. She and her husband, Tom, have been trained as suicide prevention gatekeepers and give QPR (Question, Persuade & Refer) training sessions to state-wide and local groups.



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Michelle Linn-Gust

On March 18, 1993, Denise Linn walked in front of a train at age seventeen. She was two weeks from turning eighteen and two months from graduating from high school.

Michelle Linn-Gust, Denise's sister, was 21 at the time of Denise's death and a junior at Ball State University majoring in journalism. Denise's death completely altered her life. She had no idea that losing her sister would force her to reevaluate everything she believed in and was important to her. Upon graduating from Ball State in 1994, Michelle moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she pursued a master's degree in health education. Do They Have Bad Days in Heaven? was born out of a research paper Michelle wrote about suicide bereavement for a graduate class on health issues in death and dying. Michelle's own grief journey and the research paper proved how little information was available for sibling suicide survivors.

To fill the void, Michelle began work on her book, Do They Have Bad Days in Heaven? after finishing her graduate degree in 1996. She juggled teaching high school health and working on the book for three years before leaving to devote her energy to completing a project she knew was essential for sibling suicide survivors. In this time period, she also started to give talks about Denise's death and how the loss affected her life. Today she continues to speak and educate people about sibling suicide loss and suicide prevention. Michelle resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her husband Joe Gust.

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David Litts, O.D.
David Litts, O.D. is Associate Director of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, a national center funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). As part of the center's executive management team, he contributes to the strategic planning of the new center and manages a staff that provides technical assistance in evidence-based suicide prevention planning and implementation. Most recently, he served for three years as Special Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Health and the US Surgeon General. In this position, he represented the Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary to ensure completion of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and the development of an public-private infrastructure to facilitate its implementation. He has also served as Chief of Staff for the Air Force Surgeon General and Executive Director of the Air Force Suicide Prevention Program. In this post he oversaw the development and implementation of a comprehensive population-based suicide prevention program covering 600,000 Air Force personnel. The program was associated with a statistically significant, 55 percent drop in the suicide rate among Air Force members over four years. This program is now the largest and longest sustained suicide prevention effort associated with significant reductions in suicide. Other positions include three years as Senior Health Policy Analyst for the Department of Defense and 13 years providing and managing clinical care in various outpatient settings. He earned the Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) from Illinois College of Optometry. He is the recipient of the Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Award and the Secretary's Distinguished Service Award for his work on the National Strategy and the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health.

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Keri M. Lubell
Keri M. Lubell is a Behavioral Scientist with the Program Implementation and Dissemination Branch in the Division of Violence Prevention at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Lubell received her Ph.D. in sociology from Indiana University, Bloomington. Her current research explores how state-based groups develop and implement statewide suicide prevention plans and programs, in particular focusing on how groups identify and negotiate challenges, create effective partnerships, and engage key stakeholders. She serves as scientific advisor for several suicide prevention projects funded by CDC, including two statewide suicide prevention implementation efforts. She has also conducted research addressing gender differences in suicide, the overlap between suicide and interpersonal violence, and how people seek help for mental health problems.

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Dr. Kerry Knox
Dr. Kerry Knox is an Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. She holds her primary appointment in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, in the Division of Epidemiology and a secondary appointment in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Knox is an interdisciplinary trained scientist in epidemiology and public health, biological anthropology and neurobiology and physiology. She is the Principle Investigator on an NIMH funded study to prospectively conduct an evaluation of the United States Air Force Suicide Prevention Program.

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Pamela Martin, Ph.D., ABPP

Dr. Martin is the Director of the Behavioral Health Services Division in the New Mexico Department of Health. She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and her M.S. from Rutgers University in Experimental Psychology. She attended the Binghamton University and received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. After moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1976, she worked at the Albuquerque Child Guidance Center, and the V.A. Hospital, where she was the psychologist for the psychiatric inpatient unit for five years. She was a psychologist for the CDC's Veteran's Health Study (Dioxin/Agent Orange Study) and Chief Psychologist for a subsequent OSHA study on the effects of Dioxin on an aging population. She received a Diplomate in Behavioral Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology in 1997 and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Behavioral Psychology.

After many years of practice, she co-founded Aspen Behavioral Health and as the CEO of this organization, managed Medicaid, Medicare HMO and commercial behavioral health contracts. Prior to her current appointment, she was the Director of the Regional Care Coordination System for Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

Dr. Martin has been active in the New Mexico Psychological Association (NMPA) since 1980 and has held several offices. She was appointed to the American Psychological Association Business of Practice Network and served four years. She has been a member of quality assurance and advisory boards for several local health plans. She is married to fellow psychologist Bob Ericson, and has twenty-seven year old twin sons and a wonderful daughter-in-law.



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Mary Chapman McIntosh
Mary Chapman McIntosh has significant experience in the field of abuse counseling, education and prevention. She has been a consultant to family planning agencies and various mental health providers, offering services in the area of abuse treatment and prevention as well as sex counseling and education. As Coordinator for the Family Violence Prevention Project at the Texas Department of Health (TDH), Mary organizes various Texas activities associated with the prevention of violence and abuse and other lifestyle related negative health outcomes. She has written extensively for TDH and has published an article for physicians about screening and developed protocol for family planning providers regarding the treatment of patients who have experienced abuse. As a suicide survivor, Mary also campaigns for suicide prevention in Texas.

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Sherry Davis Molock
Sherry Davis Molock is an Associate Professor of Psychology at The George Washington University in Washington, DC . She teaches undergraduate and doctoral courses in the field of clinical psychology and conducts research on depression and suicidal behaviors in African Americans. Dr. Molock has a Scientist Career Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health to study risk and protective factors for suicidal behaviors in African American teens. The information learned from this grant will be used to develop suicide prevention programs for youth in African American churches. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the Prince George's Community Crisis Services, Inc., the National Organization of People of Color Against Suicide (NOPCAS) and is a former board member of American Association of Suicidology. Dr. Molock is also an ordained minister at Ft. Foote Baptist Church in a suburb of Washington, DC., under the leadership of Reverend Joseph Lyles. There she directs the Family Life Ministry which tries to promote positive mental and spiritual health through the integration of theology, spirituality and psychology. She also teaches Women's Bible Study and serves as a spiritual advisor to the Women In Touch Ministry and the Daughter's of Virtue Liturgical Dance Ministry. Dr. Molock resides in Ft. Washington, MD with her wonderful husband of 17 years, Guy Molock, Jr. and their three lovely children: Amber - 12; Jelani - 11, Diarra - 9 and their "ferocious" dog, Jazz.

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Lloyd Potter PhD, MPH
Lloyd Potter PhD, MPH, is the project director for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. He oversees the strategic plan and its implementation for the resource center. Associate Director for the Center for Violence and Injury Prevention and Director of Children's Safety Network. His current work is focused upon providing assistance to state and local public health officials to develop and implement efforts to prevent suicide, violence, and unintentional injury. From 1993 - 2000 Dr. Potter served as the Leader of Youth Violence and Suicide Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. He has been proactive in promoting suicide as a public health issue. Dr. Potter has his Masters in Public Health from Emory University in Atlanta. He also has a Master of Science degree in Education from the University of Houston. His PhD is from the University of Texas at Austin in sociology and demography. He taught elementary school from 1980 - 1983 before returning to graduate school. He has also worked as an assistant professor of Sociology and Demography at Fordham University in New York.

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Lillian M. Range, Ph.D.
Lillian M. Range, Ph.D. from Georgia State University (1978), Professor of Psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi has, in the last 10 years, published 50 articles on suicide in Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, Death Studies, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, and other journals; is currently an editorial Board Member of 6 professional journals, fellow of American Psychological Association, and officer in Southeastern Psychological Association.

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Jerry Reed, MSW
Jerry Reed, MSW serves as Executive Director of the Suicide Prevention Action Network USA, Inc. Prior to assuming this position on July 1, 2003, Jerry served as an independent consultant working on health care, mental health, geriatric and suicide prevention issues. He most recently worked with the Center for Mental Health Services on a variety of initiatives in support of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy and also served as project liaison with the three-year Hotline Linkage and Evaluation Project (HELP) and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC). He received an MSW degree with an emphasis in Aging Administration from the University of Maryland at Baltimore in 1982. He spent 15 years as a career civil servant working in both Europe and the United States as a civilian with the Department of the Army developing, implementing and managing a variety of quality of life programs including substance abuse prevention and treatment, family advocacy, child and youth development programs, social services and the range of morale, welfare and recreation programs. Selected as a Congressional Fellow in 1996, he worked in the Office of Senator Harry Reid (NV) serving as senior advisor on health care, mental health, suicide prevention and aging issues. Upon completion of the fellowship he accepted a full time position with the U.S. Senate and completed his assignment in 1999 as Deputy Chief of Staff for Senator Reid. Jerry is currently working on a doctoral degree in Health Related Sciences with an emphasis in Gerontology at the Virginia Commonwealth University.

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Philip Rodgers, Ph.D.
Philip Rodgers, Ph.D. is the Scientific Coordinator for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Evidence-Based Practices Project (EBPP). The purpose of EBPP is to identify evidence-based suicide prevention programs and, in conjunction with the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, to create an online registry of effective programs. The registry will provide state suicide specialists, school and government administrators, clinicians and others with the information they need to make informed decisions about the adaptation of prevention programs in their communities. Dr. Rodgers earned a B.S. in Experimental Psychology from California State University Los Angeles and a Ph.D. in Research and Evaluation Methodology from Utah State University. He has worked in the field of research and evaluation for over thirteen years, and has recently completed evaluations in fields as diverse as charter schools, Medicaid, and website accessibility for disabled populations.

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Morton M. Silverman, M.D.

Morton M. Silverman, M.D., is the Senior Advisor of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC). In October, 2002 the SPRC was established under a cooperative agreement between the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to fulfill one of the objectives of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP). The SPRC supports the suicide prevention efforts of national, regional, state, tribal, and local action-oriented networks by providing technical assistance, access to resources, and training to stakeholders for results-based decision-making and continuous quality improvement.

Dr. Silverman served as the first Chief of the Center for Prevention Research at the National Institute of Mental Health (1983-1985), and then served as the first Associate Administrator for Prevention in the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (1985-1987). From 1987-2002, he was an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Associate Dean of Students in the University, and Director of the Student Counseling and Resource Service, all at the University of Chicago. He currently is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Silverman recently served as the Senior Scientific Editor and Writer for the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action (2001). He has been a consultant to the DHHS Federal Steering Group to implement the National Strategy.

He serves as a Temporary Advisor to the Division of Mental Health of the World Health Organization and consults on the development of national suicide prevention programs. Since 1996, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, the scientific journal of the American Association of Suicidology.

Dr. Silverman is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a member of Division 27 of the American Psychological Association. He is the co-author or author of over 20 journal publications, and over 20 book and monograph chapters on the topics of prevention, alcohol and other drug abuse, suicide, and standards of care. He is the co-editor or co-author of 4 books on topics related to the field of suicidology, including the Comprehensive Textbook of Suicidology (2000).

He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania (1969) and received his M.D. degree from Northwestern University in 1974. In 1978 he completed his residency training in Psychiatry at the University of Chicago.



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Frank J. Zenere, Ed.S.
Frank J. Zenere, Ed.S. is a native of Miami, Florida and currently resides in the city of Weston, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. He received his Specialist, Master's and Bachelor's degrees from Florida International University. Professionally, Frank formally served as a special education instructor, and is currently a school psychologist and crisis management specialist for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Miami, Florida, the fourth largest school district in the country, serving over 370,000 students. He has responded to crisis and/or conducted trainings in 25 states, as well as in Central and South America, Europe and Asia. Frank has participated as a crisis responder, following hurricanes Andrew and Georges, deadly tornado outbreaks in Central Florida, North-Central Alabama and Arkansas, and earthquakes in El Salvador and Turkey. He assisted ion the coordination and delivery of crisis response services following the campus homicide of Lake Worth, Florida middle school teacher and responded to the campus shootings of two middle school students in New Orleans, Louisiana. More recently, Frank served as part of a national crisis response team that assisted traumatized survivors and surviving family members impacted by the World Trade Center terrorist acts. He is an appointed member of the Florida Department of Education, Interagency Advisory Committee for the Scholl Emergency Plans Projects; the Florida State Task Force on Suicide Prevention; and the American Association of Suicidology, Working Group, charged with developing suicide prevention program standards for the nation's schools. Frank has been frequently interviewed by visual and print media, and has written numerous articles on the topic of critical incident response and youth suicidal behavior. He is a certified crisis responder and trainer for the National Organization for Victim Assistance; Washington, D.C; and a member of the National Association of School Psychologists - National Emergency Assistance Team. Locally, Frank serves on the Miami-Dade County Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (M-DCVOAD) Task Force, and is also a member of the Miami-Dade County Child Fatality Review Team.

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