Exposome and Stress Load to Understand Youth Suicide Risk
Official title: The Role of the Exposome and Allostatic Load in Risk and Resilience to Youth Suicide Attempts
Funded at Children's Hosp of Philadelphia · NIH-11376064 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study with youths aims to map environmental stress, body stress responses, and how they combine to influence suicide risk, with the goal of making risk prediction clearer for families and clinicians.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Children's Hosp of Philadelphia NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Philadelphia, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $704,467 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH134886-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11376064 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are youths aged roughly 10 to 20 who have or are at risk for suicidal thoughts or behaviors, especially those who have experienced environmental stressors.
✕Less likely to help
Youth without exposure to environmental stressors or without risk markers may see limited direct benefit.
What this research studies
This project will develop reproducible ways to measure how a young person’s environment and biological stress responses come together to affect suicide risk. It will combine environmental data with biological markers to see how stress leaves a “somatic footprint” that relates to suicidal behavior during adolescence. The team plans to test integrated risk models that connect exposure to adversity with physiological stress, helping identify who is most at risk and why resilience occurs. The work is centered on youth and uses a real-world clinical setting to inform prevention strategies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to better screening tools and targeted prevention approaches for youth at risk of suicide.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research linked exposome and allostatic load to mental health, but this study combines both in a single framework for youths.
Where this research is happening
-
Children's Hosp of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Barzilay, Ran — Children's Hosp of Philadelphia
- Study coordinator: Barzilay, Ran
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Understanding how life experiences and body stress affect suicide risk in young people
This project aims to understand how life experiences and the body's response to stress affect why some young people attempt suicide and others do not.
-
Understanding how the brain processes rewards in depression and its link to suicide risk and treatment response
This study is looking at how depression changes the way the brain responds to rewards, especially for people who feel less motivated or find less joy in things they used to enjoy, to help find better ways to treat different types of depression.
-
Understanding how environmental factors and stress affect youth suicide risk
This study is looking at how things in our environment and our bodies can affect the risk of suicide attempts in young people aged 12 to 20, with the hope of finding ways to help those who are struggling and understand why some kids are able to cope better than others.
-
A program to prevent suicide among American Indian youth using cultural teachings
This study is testing a special program called the Elders' Resilience Curriculum, designed to help American Indian and Alaska Native kids aged 9-14 by using their own cultural values and teachings to build strength and prevent suicide.
-
Cognitive SuperAging: Exploring why some octogenarians stay sharp in memory
This NIH grant studies why a small group of people aged 80+ keep memory skills as good as much younger people, hoping to understand how to protect memory as we age.
-
Understanding Invisible Suicide Risks in Youth: A National Study in Guyana
A nationwide study in Guyana aims to learn about hidden factors that contribute to suicide risk among young people so we can prevent tragedy.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.