The UW Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has been named a collaborating site on a new $16 million research contract from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The study will focus on reducing adolescent suicide through school-based prevention programs.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among U.S. adolescents. In 2025, 15% of Washington state middle and high school students reported considering suicide in the past year with 6-9% attempting suicide. The Building Resilience in Teens through Education (BRITE) Trial addresses this urgent public health challenge head-on. This comparative effectiveness research (CER) study will compare two evidence-based programs — Signs of Suicide (SOS) and Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) — and a combined approach (SOS+YAM) across 80 schools in Idaho, Ohio, Washington, and North Carolina. This five-year study will enroll 7,000 students in grades 8-10, aiming to determine which intervention most effectively reduces suicidal behaviors.

The study will be co-led by St. Luke’s Health System and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Washington. PBSCI Professor Elizabeth McCauley, PHD, ABPP will serve as PI for the WA state site, working with Molly Adrian, PhD, and Jessica Jenness, PhD.

“The UW Psychiatry team is proud to be part of this important endeavor,” said Dr. McCauley. “We are acutely aware of the growing number of youths in our communities who are struggling with suicidal thoughts and behaviors.”

The funding award to UW has been approved pending completion of PCORI’s business and programmatic review and issuance of a formal award contract.