2025 Program

The Child Mind Institute hosted its 15th annual On the Shoulders of Giants Scientific Symposium on December 9. The event explored how breakthroughs in science and technology are transforming how we predict and prevent youth suicide and self-harm.

This year’s symposium honored the pioneering work of Matthew Nock, PhD, a trailblazing psychologist, the winner of the 2025 Sarah Gund Prize for Research and Mentorship in Child Mental Health. Dr. Nock’s work employs multidisciplinary approaches to better understand and treat suicidal behavior.

In his keynote speech, Dr. Nock discussed how his team uses machine learning to detect who is at risk of suicide and when this risk is greatest. He explained how advances in digital therapeutics represent the next generation of mental health interventions, emphasizing that technology can help clinicians intervene before a crisis occurs by leveraging data collected in real time.

Following his presentation, Dr. Nock welcomed his protégé Christine Cha, PhD, and her protégé Ilana Gratch, PhD, to share their work. Dr. Cha presented research on how moments of positive thinking about one’s future can be collected and used to help address suicidal thoughts and behaviors. She discussed how these future-oriented thought processes can be captured via digital therapeutics and potentially enhanced with neurofeedback.

Dr. Gratch shared how verbal assessments of suicide risk — asking teens if they have had suicidal thoughts — often result in denial or dismissal. Her recent work highlights how nonverbal cues such as head motion and facial expression mapping may be more sensitive measures of risk detection.

After a short break, Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD, a physician and epidemiologist who served as the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, led a panel discussion centered on the technological advances making risk detection possible. Dr. Vasan and the three presenters were joined by Jocelyn Meza, PhD, assistant professor-in-residence at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Daniel Low, PhD, research scientist in the Child Mind Institute’s Center for Data Analytics, Innovation, and Rigor (DAIR), and Kathleen Merikangas, PhD, senior investigator and chief of the Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch (GEB) at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

Dr. Vasan opened the panel with an overview of the data available to researchers and clinicians in detecting suicide risk, collected through passive sensors in wearable technologies and content shared by youth on social media. The panelists discussed how researchers are beginning to use this data to identify and quantify suicide risk and ways technology might be transformed to help.

“The best way forward is science,” Dr. Nock said. “Using systematic observation, experimentation, figuring out what works, what doesn’t — and let’s get the things that work in the hands of our children and families.”

Shifting to a discussion of risk factors, the panel acknowledged disparities related to race, gender, age, and geography. Dr. Merikangas highlighted the importance of conducting research on a global scale. She noted that global differences in youth suicide risk may offer clues about cultural norms that can serve as protective factors, including a sense of community and healthy social media use.

The panelists agreed that more representative samples are needed to inform models of care and develop effective interventions. Dr. Meza highlighted her own work integrating community stakeholders, including children impacted by the juvenile justice system, probation officers, and judges, in the research process.

There was consensus among the panelists regarding the need to tailor tools and interventions for communities with elevated risks. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, they agreed, engaging community stakeholders, tailoring models of risk assessment, and a deeper understanding of the structural challenges faced by youth are all important considerations.

Ultimately, the panel was optimistic about the future of suicide risk assessment and intervention, crediting increased interest from the research community and funding bodies and reduced stigma around suicide.

In his closing remarks, Michael P. Milham, MD, PhD, Chief Science Officer at the Child Mind Institute, echoed the panel’s call to action. “The true goal is not just flagging risk,” he said, “but ensuring that when we do, we respond with human connection and effective care.”