Innovations in Veteran Suicide Prevention

Program

Join the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute to discuss innovations in veteran suicide prevention.

Despite years of focused attention, the rate of suicide among veterans has remained higher than that of nonveterans. A recent RAND report sponsored by Face the Fight highlights the emergence of novel approaches for preventing veteran suicide that leverage advances in technology, including artificial intelligence and biometric monitoring, to identify and intervene with veterans at risk.

Please join our April webinar to hear experts discuss a range of new approaches that are currently or will soon be available. We will discuss the evidence supporting these new strategies as well as perspectives about how these new strategies may augment, improve upon, or compete with existing approaches for preventing veteran suicides.

Presenter

Ben Senator is an assistant policy researcher at RAND and a doctoral fellow at the RAND School of Public Policy. Alongside a research interest in drug policy and emerging drug market regulation, he maintains a focus on social policy analysis and evaluation, with current work concerning U.S. veterans’ housing, crisis support, and substance use.

Prior to joining RAND, Senator worked as a research assistant with University College London while studying for his M.Sc. in social policy and social research. He holds a B.A. in geography from the University of Birmingham.

Moderator

Rajeev Ramchand is a senior behavioral scientist and codirector of the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute. He studies the prevalence, prevention, and treatment of mental health and substance use disorders, with a primary focus on suicide and suicide prevention and caregiving.

Ramchand has served and continues to serve on various national committees, including the Department of Defense Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee, Chair of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Research Advisory Council, the Face the Fight Scientific Advisory Committee, the Executive Committee of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee, and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee for Mental Health Effects of Toxic Exposures Among Veterans.

Ramchand has testified before Congress on his research five times. He holds a Ph.D. in psychiatric epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health of Chicago.

Panelists

Dr. Katy Dondanville, Psy.D., ABPP, is a psychologist focused on improving mental health care accessibility and quality. As an Associate Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, she collaborates with researchers and clinicians to drive these efforts.

Dr. Dondanville is the Director of the STRONG STAR Training Initiative, which has trained over 4,500 clinicians worldwide in evidence-based treatments for PTSD, suicide, and related conditions. As Chief Scientific Advisor for Face the Fight, she leads efforts to reduce veteran suicide rates. With expertise in PTSD treatments, she is committed to improving access to effective therapies.

In addition to her leadership roles, Dr. Dondanville mentors junior faculty and postdoctoral fellows, shaping the next generation of mental health professionals. She has authored over 100 scientific papers and delivered more than 150 presentations, underscoring her dedication to advancing mental health care through research, training, and advocacy.

Dr. Craig J. Bryan, PsyD, ABPP, is a board-certified clinical psychologist in cognitive behavioral psychology, and an internationally recognized expert on suicide prevention, trauma, and resilience. He is the Trott Gebhardt Philips Endowed Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at the Ohio State University, and the Division Director for Recovery and Resilience.

Dr. Bryan’s research has been funded by the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, and multiple foundations. He has published over 300 scientific articles and multiple books, including Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Suicide Prevention and Rethinking Suicide and has received various awards and recognitions for his research.

Gabriel Hassler is an associate statistician at RAND and professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He specializes in computational Bayesian statistics with additional methodological interests in missing data and the application of large language models to analyze unstructured text. Substantive applications of his work include research into childhood suicidal ideation, infectious disease epidemiology, evolutionary biology, and emergency communications.

Hassler holds a Ph.D. in biomathematics from UCLA and a B.A. in anthropology and biology from Washington University in St. Louis.

Dave Gowel is a U.S. Army veteran and CEO of RallyPoint. He began his career as a graduate of the United States Military Academy and of the U.S. Army Ranger School. He served multiple tours in U.S. Army Europe and was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Since receiving an honorable discharge in 2008, Gowel has led three technology companies as CEO and has been published for his work in social media and for the use of machine learning to identify and intervene with suicide risk. Gowel is an advisor to Blue Star Families, Vets in Tech, PsychArmor, and Face the Fight.