Accelerating Suicide Prevention in Real-World Settings (ASPIRES) Center Webinar Series: What is the Research Telling Us?
The ASPIRES Center aims to accelerate delivery of youth suicide prevention interventions and services in clinical and community settings to reduce the rate of youth suicide. Whether you are new or established in your field, this quarterly webinar series will provide you with information on innovative suicide prevention research strategies in real-world, practice-based settings.
To log your attendance and receive continuing education credit for the ASPIRES Webinar, you must create a CloudCME account. Contact Kendra Heck at Kendra.Heck@NationwideChildrens.org with questions creating a CloudCME account.
Learning Objectives
- To explore and discuss recent suicide prevention research strategies and outcomes
- To discuss challenges and opportunities inherent in suicide prevention research
- To understand how to leverage suicide prevention research strategies in practice-based settings
Upcoming Topics
- September 9, 2026: Jennifer Johnson, PhD - Click here to join
- December 9, 2026: Molly Adrian, PhD - Click here to join
- March 10, 2027: Joan Luby, MD
Access Past Webinars
Presented: June 10, 2026
Presented by: Paul Nestadt, MD, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Learning Objectives
- Review the epidemiology of firearm suicide
- Illustrate the importance of lethal means access in suicide risk
- Describe use of Extreme Risk Protection Orders
Presented: March 11, 2026
Presented by: Lynsay Ayer, PhD, RAND Corporation
Learning Objectives
- Describe the prevalence and developmental patterns of suicidal ideation among child welfare-involved youth ages 7–11, including how rates compare across age groups, sex, and racial/ethnic subgroups.
- Identify longitudinal trajectories of childhood suicidal ideation and their predictors, with attention to which youth are at greatest risk for persistent or delayed-onset ideation into adolescence.
- Summarize the long-term consequences of preteen suicidal ideation, including elevated risk for adolescent suicidal thoughts and self-injury and downstream impacts on school engagement, academic achievement, and future expectations.
- Discuss risk and protective factors relevant to intervention, with a focus on social connectedness, loneliness, and social skills as modifiable targets — particularly for Black youth in the child welfare system.
- Articulate priority directions for screening, practice, and research, including the urgent need for age-appropriate assessment tools and culturally tailored prevention programs for this underserved population.
Presented: March 12, 2025
Presented by: David Brent, MD, University of Pittsburgh
Learning Objectives
- The participant will recognize that the US is an outlier with respect to both teen suicide and Deaths of Despair
- The participant will be able to discuss the time trends and possible drivers of the increases in Deaths and Diseases of Despair
- The participant will be able to explain the evidence supporting Diseases of Despair as a unitary concept, as well as its social and psychological antecedents
- The participant will be able to discuss and evaluate the evidence that links the adult DoD and teen suicide epidemics
Presented: June 11, 2025
Presented by: Edwin Boudreaux, PhD, UMass
Learning Objectives
- Understand the seven elements of the Zero Suicide framework
- Acquire knowledge and skills related to deploying suicide-related best practices in primary care and OB/GYN settings
- Recognize the potential impediments to deploying suicide-related best practices in primary care and OB/GYN settings, as well as ways to address these impediments
Presented: October 8, 2025
Presented by: Yunyu Xiao, PhD, Cornell University
Learning Objectives
- Identify at least three ways in which big data sources (e.g., EHRs, social media, population-level SDOH datasets) can be integrated to assess youth suicide risk and inform prevention strategies.
- Describe two or more advanced computational techniques (e.g., machine learning, natural language processing) and explain how each can enhance early detection and personalized intervention for at-risk youth.
- Analyze one example of a predictive model linking SDOH and addictive screen use trajectories to suicidal behaviors, and evaluate its potential application in clinical or public health settings.
Presented: December 10, 2025
Presented By: LaVome Robinson, PhD, ABPP, University of Georgia
Learning Objectives
The findings of two efficacy trials provide evidence that the Adapted-Coping with Stress (A-CWS) preventive intervention significantly mitigates suicide risk in adolescents. At the conclusion of this presentation, learners will be able to:
- State the fundamental components of the A-CWS
- Identify methods utilized for advancing the A-CWS from efficacy (i.e., intervention delivered under optimal, more restricted conditions) to effectiveness (i.e., intervention delivered under “real-world” conditions) in a current effectiveness trial
- Discuss methods and challenges for real-world dissemination of evidence-based suicide prevention strategies for adolescents
Presented by: Danielle Steelesmith, PhD
Learning Objectives:
- Understand trends in rural suicide rates and risk factors for these communities
- Explore individual and community variables related to rural suicide risk
- Compare suicide rates between rural and urban youth
Presented: Sept. 11, 2024
Presented by: Brian K. Ahmedani, PhD, Henry Ford Health, MSU
Presented: Dec. 11, 2024
Presented by: Joan R. Asarnow, PhD, UCLA
Learning Objectives
- Increase knowledge regarding the evaluation of suicide and self-harm risk.
- Increase knowledge about evidence-informed interventions for suicide and self-harm risk in young people.
- Increase knowledge about strategies for enhancing suicide prevention services.