Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber, PhD
Professor, Columbia University
Founder and Director, The Columbia Lighthouse Project
Recipient, Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service
Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute
Dr. Kelly Posner’s work is saving lives all over the globe across 6 continents. The President of the American Psychiatric Association noted her work with the Columbia Protocol could be “like the introduction of antibiotics.” The U.S. Department of Defense said that her work is “nothing short of a miracle,” and that “her effective model of improving the world will help propel us closer to a world without suicide.”
Dr. Posner’s work has been noted in a keynote speech at the White House and cited in Congressional hearings, and she gave the lead presentation in a U.S. Senate forum on school safety after the Parkland tragedy. Through her advocacy, she has changed local, national and international policy, which in turn has helped achieve reductions in suicide across all sectors of society. An Israeli government official said her work “is not only saving millions of lives but in Israel it is literally changing the way we live our lives.”
The Columbia Protocol is policy across all 50 states, national agencies, and most countries. Dr. Posner’s scholarly work has been included in the compendium of the most important research in the history of the study of suicide, and in 2018 she was awarded The Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service.
Disclosure: Dr. Posner has the following relevant financial relationships, potential or perceived, with commercial or conflicts of interest to disclose:
- Other: Receives royalties from the use of the C-SSRS in pharmaceutical trials
Review of Conflicts Policy: The UT Austin College of Pharmacy has a very strict policy to ensure against commercial conflicts of interest in CE programming. For this conference, the planning committee picks two committee members who have appropriate backgrounds to review content, and report any potential conflict of interest to the CPE Director. If conflict issues are discovered, they are addressed with speakers to make appropriate changes. Evaluations are collected from all participants with specific questions around the listed conflicts of commercial interest.