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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 27, 2010 |
Denver VA Medical Center Joins Consortium to Study Military Suicide
DENVER - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Eastern Colorado Health Care System announced today that it has joined a $17 million Military Suicide Research Consortium (MSRC). The consortium, established by the Military Operational Medicine Research Program (MOMRP) is part of an ongoing strategy to integrate and synchronize DoD and civilian efforts in implementing a multidisciplinary research approach to suicide prevention.
“The innovative, multidisciplinary approach of the MSRC facilitates rapid translation and dissemination of cutting-edge suicide research findings,” said Col. Carl Castro, MOMRP director. “This capability will enhance the military’s ability to quickly identify those at risk for suicide and will result in more effective evidence-based prevention and treatment strategies.”
Internationally recognized suicide researchers Peter Gutierrez, Ph.D. of the VA’s Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) at the Denver VA Medical Center and Thomas Joiner, Ph.D. of Florida State University will serve as co-directors of the MSRC. Each affiliated institution has been awarded $8.5 million over three years to address this urgent public health issue across the military as well as the general population.
“Assessing risk for suicide has been the focus of extensive research in the civilian sector,” said Gutierrez. “However, very little is currently known about how relevant existing tools are when applied to the military. The consortium will allow us to determine how best to screen and assess personnel, develop effective interventions and ultimately reduce suicides.”
Beyond the data are the lives of Soldiers and families these scientists hope to someday touch. “Soldiers see a lot of violence, they see death, they see the people who are closest to them in the world get killed, and they themselves are often seriously injured,” Joiner observes. “There’s no doubt that the trauma of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq plays a role, but that doesn’t explain why some Soldiers take their own lives and others who share the same experience don’t.”
Castro expects Joiner and Gutierrez’s research to yield new scientific data on suicidal behavior in the military and to provide the scientific basis for policy recommendations and clinical practice guidelines.
