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Our People

Our Leadership

Holly C. Wilcox, PhD

Director and Founder

Dr. Holly Wilcox is a Professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with joint appointments in the Department of Health Policy and Management as well as the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Education.  Holly uses research to advance public health approaches to suicide prevention, including policies, early intervention, and chain of care approaches. Dr. Wilcox serves as President of the International Academy of Suicide Research (IASR), on the National Board and Scientific Council of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), and is a consultant on suicide prevention for the World Health Organization. She is an affiliated faculty member with the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. Dr. Wilcox chairs Governor Wes Moore’s Maryland Commission of Suicide Prevention, she serves on the Maryland Suicide Fatality review team and is an Affiliate Investigator with the Centre for Research Excellence in Suicide Prevention of the Black Dog Institute in Australia. 

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Paul S. Nestadt, MD

Medical Director

Dr. Paul Nestadt is the James Wah Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His methodological expertise includes psychological autopsy, large scale regression-based data analysis, and evaluation of determination of manner of death. As Clinical Director of the McGlasson Anxiety Disorders Clinic and Associate Director of the Esketamine Treatment Clinics at Johns Hopkins Hospital, his clinical work centers treatment resistant cases. As an inpatient psychiatrist attending on the JHH Motivated Behaviors Unit, he treats patients who suffer from comorbid substance dependence and other serious mental illness who require acute management.
Dr. Nestadt is the chair of Maryland’s Suicide Fatality Review Committee and is a nationally renowned expert on the practical risk factors for suicide, such as opioids and firearm access. He has written dozens of chapters for leading psychiatric and medical textbooks, almost 100 peer-reviewed papers, and has spoken nationally and internationally on the topics of suicide risk and the role of firearms, opiates, and the limitations of screening.
 

Emily E. Haroz, PhD, MHS, MA

Deputy Director

Dr. Emily Edmunds Haroz is an Associate Professor with co-primary appointments in the Departments of Mental Health and International Health. She is also the Co-Director of Research at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Indigenous Health. Dr. Haroz's research focuses on implementation science, suicide prevention, and precision public health approaches, with particular emphasis on partnering with communities to reduce suicide-related inequities. She leads multiple NIH-funded studies examining innovative approaches to suicide prevention and mental health service delivery, including the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence to enhance care systems. Dr. Haroz serves as the Director of the ELEVATE NIDA-funded T31 and Research Core Director for the CIRCLE Center, aimed at advancing culturally-centered approaches to improving behavioral health outcomes. She is an affiliated faculty member with the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. Beyond her academic appointments, Dr. Haroz contributes to several key policy and practice initiatives. She serves on the advisory committee for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' project on suicide prevention in humanitarian settings, actively participates in the Chinle Service Unit Suicide Prevention Task Force supporting local responses on the Navajo Nation and serves as an advisor to the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health's Dissemination & Implementation Core at Dartmouth University.

Leslie Adams, PhD, MPH

Leslie Adams, PhD, MPH is an Instructor in the Division of Public Mental Health and Population Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she focuses on addressing mental health disparities among Black boys and men. As a behavioral scientist, her research emphasizes the role of structural racism, gender norms, and psychosocial stressors in influencing mental health outcomes. Dr. Adams employs mixed-methods approaches, including ecological momentary assessment and passive data sensing, to explore real-time stressors like racial discrimination and their link to depressive symptoms and suicidality. Prior to her role at Stanford, she served as an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and was a David E. Bell Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.

Photograph of Kiara Alvarez

Kiara Álvarez, PhD

Behavior, and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is a licensed psychologist and holds a joint appointment in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Her work focuses on mental health equity for children, adolescents, and young adults. She has particular interests in the prevention of suicidal behavior, the integration of behavioral health care across clinical and community settings, the mental health and well-being of Latinx and immigrant youth and their families, and community-engaged research. Her research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the William T. Grant Foundation. She is on the Board of Directors for the Society for Prevention Research and steering committee for the Youth Suicide Research Consortium. 

Alan Berman

Alan L. Berman, PhD (Lanny)

Senior Advisor

Dr. Bearman is an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  Between 1995 and 2014 he served as Executive Director of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS). Prior to this he attained the rank of tenured full professor of psychology at American University (1969-1991) and was named Director of the National Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide at the Washington School of Psychiatry (1991-1995).   He is a Past-President of the AAS (1984-1985) and of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (2009-2013).  He is the AAS’s 1982 Shneidman Award recipient (for Outstanding Contributions in Research in Suicidology), and 2006 Louis I. Dublin Award recipient (for outstanding service and contributions to the field of suicide prevention).  A Diplomate in Clinical Psychology and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the International Academy for Suicide Research, Dr. Berman maintains a private practice of psychological and forensic consultation in Chevy Chase, MD.  He has published over 135 professional articles and book chapters and has edited/authored 8 books.

John V. Campo, MD

Senior Advisor

Dr. John V. Campo is the Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Professor and Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, and is the Director of Mental Health for the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and the Vice President of Psychiatric Services at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. Dr. Campo’s research interests include the study and prevention of suicide, the integration of mental health services within general medical settings, mental health services and policy research, and the relationship between somatic symptoms and mental disorders.

Core Faculty

Aluri, MD, MA

Dr. Aluri, MD, MA, is an Assistant Professor, in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. His clinical work has involved caring for Johns Hopkins students, residents, and fellows at Johns Hopkins Student Health and Wellbeing Mental Health Services. His suicide-related research focuses on epidemiology (including associations between race and suicidal thoughts and behaviors) and prevention (including improving the reach of campus mental health services). He has received research funding from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to evaluate their suicide screening program on over 50 college campuses.

Alison Athey, PhD

Assistant Professor

Alison Athey, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist and a part-time Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Scientist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is an Associate Behavioral Scientist at The RAND Corporation. Her research focuses on responding to life-threatening behaviors, especially suicide. Dr. Athey has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to study risk for suicide and overdose, suicide postvention, and healthcare access among high-risk groups. She uses a range of methods drawn from psychology, psychiatric epidemiology, and community-based participatory research. In her clinical work, Dr. Athey works with adults who experience serious mental illness, substance misuse, trauma, and bereavement.

Diana E. Clarke, PhD

Assistant Professor - Adjunct

Dr. Clarke is a highly experienced epidemiologist, research statistician and educator with a 20-year history of working with academic institutions, specialty organizations, behavioral health agencies and hospitals. Dr. Clarke is skilled in research and analytic methods, survey design and implementation, performance metrics and evaluation, prevention science, clinical, psychiatric and social epidemiology research, scientific and grant writing, development and implementation of integrated multi-user electronic data capture systems for clinical, administrative and research purposes and data management and analyses. Her work has been published in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals and book chapters and presented at numerous national and international conferences to varying audiences. Dr. Clarke is the president elect of the International Academy of Suicide Research. 

Mary Beth Cogan EdD, MPH, RN

Mary Beth Cogan EdD, MPH, RN is the Administrative Director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.  In her role, she facilitates and supports collaborations across the university and the community, with a specialty focus on education. The focus of her research has been on mood disorders spanning the life span and educational interventions. As a servant leader, Dr. Cogan is dedicated to promoting the mission of the Suicide Prevention Center. She emphasizes fostering the growth of the team and cultivating a positive, supportive culture within the organization. Her commitment to these principles enhances the impact of her work and the well-being of those she serves.

Mary F. Cwik, PhD, MA

Senior Scientist

Dr. Cwik is a Licensed Psychologist and an Associate Scientist and Associate Director at the Center for American Indian Health in the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She has a joint appointment in Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Cwik has conducted research in suicide, substance use and trauma, focusing on preventing Native American mental health disparities for the past 10 years. Dr. Cwik’s research, in collaboration with the White Mountain Apache Tribe, has helped to identify unique risk factors impacting these disparities, the importance of protective factors including cultural identity, and promising interventions associated with a reduction in the Apache suicide rate. Mary has expertise in community academic partnerships, developing mental health interventions for different cultural contexts, training community mental health specialists, screening, surveillance (Apache model recognized by SAMHSA, Indian Health Service/IHS and the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry), mixed methods designs, RCTs, and Emergency Department settings. Dr. Cwik has received two teaching excellence citations and serves on the APA Committee on Human Research, Suicide Prevention Resource Center steering committee, and Zero Suicide National Implementation Team for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

J. Raymond DePaulo, Jr., MD

Professor

J. Raymond DePaulo, Jr., M.D. is a University Distinguished Service Professor and Co-Director of the Mood Disorder Center in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He founded the Hopkins Affective Disorders Clinic in 1977 and grew it into a multifaceted program that led patient care, teaching and research on depression and bipolar disorder at Johns Hopkins. Dr. DePaulo was the Henry Phipps Professor and Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Psychiatrist in Chief at the Johns Hopkins Hospital from 2002 until 2016. Dr. DePaulo’s research interests focus on clinical assessment, diagnosis, causes and treatments of mood disorders. His research group led several early genetic studies of bipolar disorder and unipolar depression.

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Shannon Frattaroli, PhD

Professor

Shannon Frattaroli, PhD, MPH, is a Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where she Directs the Center for Injury Research and Policy. Her research focuses on policy strategies for preventing injury and violence -- particularly firearm injuries. She is committed to assuring interventions are well-implemented once in place. Her work to advance policies designed to temporarily remove guns from people who are behaving dangerously through Extreme Risk Protection Orders and Domestic Violence Restraining Orders is one example of her implementation research and practice work. Dr. Frattaroli’s work advances the translation of research findings to policy and practice. She mentors students and early career scientists who are interested in the intersection of research and practice. She holds a PhD and an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Hanae Fujii-Rios, MD, MPH

Hanae Fujii-Rios, MD, MPH is a faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her research aims to optimize patient access to health care and engagement with community resources in an equitable manner. Her focus is particularly on improving access to mental health care for youths with suicide risk following an emergency department visit. Understanding that health-related social needs have a significant impact on physical and mental health, her research also focuses on exploring feasible and effective ways in implementing sustainable programs that assist pediatric patients and their families in accessing community resources. 

Kay Redfield Jamison, PhD, MA

Professor

Dr. Jamison is the Co-Director of the Mood Disorders Center and the Dalio Professor in Mood Disorders, Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is also Honorary Professor of English at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She is the co–author of the standard medical text on bipolar (manic–depressive) illness, which was chosen as the most outstanding book in biomedical sciences by the American Association of Publishers, and author of Touched with FireAn Unquiet MindNight Falls FastExuberanceNothing Was the Same, and Robert Lowell:  Setting the River on Fire  (2018 Pulitzer finalist), and Fires in the Dark: Healing the Unquiet Mind.

Hadi Kharrazi, MD, PhD, MHI

Professor

Dr. Kharrazi is a professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management with a joint appointment at the Johns Hopkins School of MedicineSection of Biomedial Informatics and Data Science. He co-directs the Johns Hopkins Center for Population Health IT (CPHIT), which focuses on advancing the use of IT in various areas of population health. His research at CPHIT is often translated into pragmatic IT and analytic solutions that affect real-world population health management programs and risk stratification tools such as the Johns Hopkins ACG, which is widely used in the U.S. and around the world. Within the context of population health IT, his personal research focuses on the application of informatics solutions to advance the science of population health analytics. 

Paul Kim, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor

Dr. Paul Kim is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Cynthia Major Lewis, MD

Cynthia Major Lewis, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Director of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Adult Psychiatric Emergency Services.  Dr. Lewis is the Co-chair of The Baltimore City Suicide Prevention Legislative Workgroup.  She is Co-Chair of the legislative committee and was recently voted onto the MPS Council of the Maryland Psychiatric Society.   She is a founding member of the BEST PUNT group, focusing on helping the plight of patients who are our most vulnerable and disenfranchised.  Dr. Lewis has been a tireless advocate for her patients who because of their persistent and severe mental illness, cannot advocate for themselves.  Her advocacy included the providing of written and oral testimony that helped to get Maryland’s first Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program that was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore on May 16, 2024.  Dr. Lewis was recently awarded the Presidential Award of Excellence by the Maryland Psychiatric Society and the Marcia G. Pines Lifetime Advocacy and Service Award by NAMI Baltimore. 

Leslie Miller, MD

Associate Professor

Dr. Leslie Miller is an Assistant Professor in the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She is the director and developer of the Mood Disorders in Adolescents and Young Adults Program (MAP). This program provides a multi-disciplinary approach to treatment combining evidence-based pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic interventions. Her commitment to clinical excellence was recognized by the institution in receiving the inaugural Dean's Clinical Excellence Award for Excellence in Service and Professionalism. She recently completed an NIH K23 career development award which focused on the development of an adaptation of interpersonal psychotherapy for youth with a newly defined mood disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder.

Rashelle Musci, PhD

Rashelle Musci, PhD is an Associate Professor and director of doctoral programs in Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with joint appointments in the Department of Biostatistics and the Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health. Dr. Musci is an expert in prevention science, child mental health, and quantitative methods and measurement in public health. Her research focuses on advanced latent variable methodology for use in developmental science; exploring the intergenerational transmission of self-regulation and how that transmission may be impacted by universal prevention programming; and understanding individual differences in prevention and intervention effects.

Victoria O’Keefe, PhD, MS

Victoria O’Keefe, PhD, MS is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. Dr. O’Keefe is the Mathuram Santosham Endowed Chair in Native American Health at Johns Hopkins University. She is an Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of International Health (Social and Behavioral Interventions Program), an Associate Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Dr. O’Keefe’s community-based participatory research with Native communities focuses on strengths-based and culturally-informed suicide prevention, mental health promotion, and wellness. Dr. O’Keefe received her PhD in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University and completed her clinical internship at the Puget Sound VA Health Care System – Seattle Division, both in 2016. In 2020, Dr. O’Keefe was honored by her Tribal Nation with a Cherokee Nation Community Leadership Individual Award.

Laura Prichett, PhD

Dr. Laura Prichett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of General Pediatrics with a joint appointment in the Department of Medicine, Biomedical Informatics & Data Science.  Her research is focused on systems-level suicide prevention in pediatric primary and emergency care as well as understanding the epidemiology of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among young females belonging to ethnoracially minoritized groups in the U.S.  Dr. Prichett also serves as the Associate Director and Faculty Lead for the Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Data Management (BEAD) Core at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Prichett is trained as an epidemiologist, demographer, and biostatistician, and has extensive experience working with complex, nationally representative panel data as well as utilizing administrative and electronic health record (EHR) for clinical translational research. 

Benjamin Schindel, MD, MPH

Dr. Benjamin Schindel is a Neurodevelopmental Disabilities specialist at Kennedy Krieger Institute and an Assistant Professor in Neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Schindel’s research interests are in the epidemiology of suicide among individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities, such as intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, language disorders, and many others.

Eric Slade, PhD

Professor

Eric Slade is a health economist with expertise in public insurance programs, serious mental illness, preventive interventions, and advanced econometric methods for causal inference. His research uses surveys and large administrative datasets to assess how health care financing systems and policies influence service use, costs, and health outcomes. Dr. Slade has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the U.S. Department of Education, the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and other federal agencies and foundations. He formerly served as a member of the NIH Mental Health Services in Non-Specialty Settings internal review group and the VA Healthcare Organization and Delivery review panel. He currently directs the Nursing Workforce Group, which is conducting a series of studies on workforce outcomes among advanced practice nurse providers and on how they influence health care cost, access, and quality. Dr. Slade also serves as a lead economist on clinical trials and demonstration projects assessing the economic value of novel interventions and programs and is an associate editor of the journal Administration and Policy in Mental Health & Mental Health Services Research.

Carol Vidal, MD, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor

Dr. Carol Vidal is an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her area of clinical expertise is child and adolescent psychiatry.

Dr. Vidal earned her M.D. and Ph.D. from Autonomous University of Barcelona - Faculty of Medicine in Barcelona, Spain and an MPH from Drexel University in Philadelphia. She completed residency in psychiatry at University of Maryland Medical System and a fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at University of Maryland Medical System.

Postdoctoral Fellows and Students

DaSeul An

DaSeul An is an MHS student in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research focuses on evaluating suicide prevention interventions and strategies, emphasizing reducing disparities and improving access to care across diverse populations. She is interested in leveraging digital tools to translate research into actionable policies and community-based solutions. Before joining Johns Hopkins, DaSeul gained extensive experience in user-centered design, product management, and creating technology-driven solutions for complex challenges. She earned a BFA in Graphic/Interactive Design from the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Monica Guerrero Vazquez

Monica Guerrero Vazquez is a DrPH student in the Health Equity and Social Justice concentration at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is the executive director at Centro SOL, the Center of Health and Opportunity for Latinos. Her research focuses on innovative approaches to tackle health inequities, teen suicide prevention, diversity in clinical trials, and immigrant mental health. In her work at Centro SOL, she oversees strategic planning, operations, programs, and outreach. Her work is recognized by her service on Maryland's Suicide Prevention Commission and as an inaugural Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellow. Monica holds a Master of Science in Computer Science and a Master in Public Health.

Kiana Haag

Kiana Haag is a Master's Candidate in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research interests include mental health service implementation, evaluation and policy with a specific interest in neurodevelopment disorders, suicide prevention and community based mental health services. Haag previously worked as a Mental Health worker at the Prevention and Recovery Centre, working with patients with a range of serious mental illness and neurodevelopmental disorders. She received her BSci in psychology and neuroscience at the University of Sydney in 2021. 

Marcus D. Henderson, MSN, RN

Marcus D. Henderson, MSN, RN is a PhD Candidate, NIH/NIMH Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Predoctoral Fellow, and 2024-2026 Jonas Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Mr. Henderson is a dynamic psychiatric nurse and leader with professional experience as a clinician and educator in community-based, inpatient psychiatric, and academic settings. His clinical and research interests are in adolescent and family mental health, suicide prevention, mental health disparities, social determinants of mental health, and advancing DEIB and anti-racism in healthcare. Mr. Henderson’s dissertation explores the critical role of parents in adolescent suicide prevention, specifically examining the psychosocial factors associated with parental self-efficacy in preventing suicidal behavior. Mr. Henderson holds various leadership roles, including inaugural member of the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing and Immediate Past Chairman of HOSA-Future Health Professionals. He previously served as a member of the American Nurses Association Board of Directors and Committee on the Future of Nursing 2020-2030 at the National Academy of Medicine. Mr. Henderson received a BSN, MSN in Health Leadership, and Certificate in Health Care Innovation from the University of Pennsylvania.

amelia noor-oshiro

amelia noor-oshiro (she/they) initiated the U.S. Muslim Community Study of Mental Health as a doctoral student in the Department of Health, Behavior, and Society. This study emerged from an F31 grant by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities with implications for hard-to-reach populations. As a self-identifying Muslim, amelia engaged in community-based participatory research approaches with their orientation as an insider ‘participant’-researcher with lived experience. Additionally, amelia serves on the Maryland Governor’s Commission for Suicide Prevention, representing people with lived experience. Prior to this, she conducted an original research study on Muslim visibility and depression at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, trained as a CORO Fellow in Public Affairs, and served the Muslim Students Association as an undergraduate at UCLA. 

Taylor C. Ryan

Taylor C. Ryan is currently a Research Program Manager at Johns Hopkins and a 4th year PhD student at the University of Washington School of Public Health. Taylor’s research interests are suicide prevention, particularly youth suicide prevention, mental health stigma, and access to behavioral health care. She is particularly interested in how to use research to inform policy to reduce the risk of suicide, mental health stigma, and ultimately disparities and barriers to accessing behavioral health care. Taylor began her PhD in Health Services with a concentration in implementation science at the University of Washington in 2021.

Valentín Quiroz Sierra, PhD, MSW

Dr. Sierra is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Indigenous Health. They leverage Artificial Intelligence to develop culture-based suicide preventive interventions for Native American youth. Their research integrates AI-driven models with Indigenous knowledge systems to address the unique social, historical, and structural challenges faced by tribal communities.