Written by We are pleased to announce a new study beginning in July 2021 which aims to better understand suicidality in patients living with ME/CFS.
ME/CFS is a debilitating chronic illness, and previous studies have found suicide risk in those with ME/CFS to be seven times greater than the general population. This study aims to predict and explain suicide risk in the ME/CFS population and inform operational suicide prevention decision support efforts at VUMC. Our team will also investigate if and how COVID infection and recovery affect suicide risk in ME/CFS.
We partner with Dr. Lindsey McKernan, a clinical health psychologist at Vanderbilt with extensive experience understanding the complexities of living with and managing debilitating and often overlapping chronic illnesses. Dr. McKernan’s research focuses on developing and implementing patient-centered interventions for complex health conditions like ME/CFS and understanding the impact of psychological factors on the experience of chronic illnesses. We are also lucky to be joined by neuropsychologist and informatician Dr. Elliot Fielstein.
Support for this award is made possible through Vanderbilt’s Department of Neurology and the generosity of the Sarah and Allan Bass Alzheimer’s Disease Research Fund.
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