GREMAP is currently seeking student summer interns to support two innovative projects focused on public mental health and aging. First, we are recruiting a summer intern to work on the Diabetes and Mental Health (DMH) Initiative, which is an interdisciplinary research project aimed at improving the mental health and wellbeing of people with diabetes. The student selected for this position will have the opportunity to collaborate with investigators on the Diabetes, Distress, and Disparities (3D) Study, including data analysis, manuscript writing, and research dissemination. Please find the full job description and qualifications here.

We are also recruiting students to join the newly-launched National Survey of American Life (NSAL) ‘2.0’ project. This project aims to reinterview the NSAL sample, which is the only nationally-representative survey of mental health of Black Americans (n~6,000) that has ever been conducted. In this role, students will gain hands-on experience in study recruitment efforts, community engagement, and research coordination. Please find the full job description and qualifications here.

Overall, candidates for these positions will value working independently and efficiently, collaborating with an interdisciplinary team, and contributing to innovative mental health and aging research. Interested applicants should send their resume, cover letter, and any relevant work samples or portfolio pieces to Ms. Lily Johns (lilyjj@umich.edu).

We are excited to share a recent article that was published in the University of Michigan School of Information News that features our descriptive study on suicide deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic, which we conducted as a part of the ATLAS project. This study, which was recently published in PLOS One, examines pandemic-related circumstances contributing to suicide deaths during the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic (i.e., 2020). We used topic modeling to analyze narrative data from the CDC’s National Violent Reporting System and found that, among suicide cases in 2020, 7% of narratives described some aspect of the pandemic, including shutdown restrictions, financial losses, and concerns about infection.

This article gives an overview of they key background and findings of the paper and features interviews from Drs. Briana Mezuk and Kara Zivin, co-PI’s of the ATLAS Study, whose comments highlight the need for research and policy to better understand the impact of the pandemic on suicide and other mental health outcomes so as to inform future prevention and intervention efforts. You can read the full article here.

We are happy to announce that GREMAP’s Linh Dang graduated with a PhD in Epidemiological Science from the University of Michigan this past weekend! Dr. Dang’s dissertation is titled: Work Expectations and Psychological Distress Among American and South Korean Older Adults: Exploring the Contextual Roles of Gender, Family, and the Great Recession. Congrats to Linh!

Dr. Linh Dang (left) with Dr. Briana Mezuk (right) following the UM graduation ceremony.

This past month, GREMAP members attended the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) annual conference. This meeting, which took place in Seattle, is a key meeting for researchers studying aging and older populations. At the meeting, we presented our work on a variety of topics related to aging and health, including residential segregation, functional limitations, social isolation, recent disagnosis, and work expectations.

GREMAP presentations included:

• “Racial Residential Segregation and Suicidal Behavior Across the Lifecourse Among Black Americans”, presented by Eskira Kahsay
• “Work Expectation and Psychological Stress During the Great Recession: The Role of Late-Life Employment Transitions”, presented by Dr. Linh Dang
• “Comparing the association between functional limitations and social isolation among people with and without depressive symptoms”, presented by Chuwen Zhong
• “Interpersonal factors mediating associations of chronic disease with depression and passive suicidal ideation in older adults”, presented by Kallisse Dent

Overall, this year’s GSA conference was a great opportunity to share our work with an interdisciplinary audience. Great work to everyone who presented!

Above [left]: Chuwen (Cullen) Zhong and Viktoryia Kalesnikava. Above [right]: Kallisse Dent and Chuwen (Cullen) Zhong at their poster session. Below (left to right): Chuwen (Cullen) Zhong, Kallisse Dent, Weidi Qin, Eskira Kahsay, and Linh Dang out to dinner in Seattle!

This October, the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health (CSEPH) celebrated its 25th anniversary! The celebration was a day-long event that included a poster session, alumni panel, and keynote presentation by Dr. Ana Diez Roux, a former CSEPH director. GREMAP members celebrated alongside fellow CSEPH-ers and alumni and presented multiple posters on our work at the poster session. Overall, it was a great opportunity to engage with fellow researchers and CSEPH alumni to celebrate the work of CSEPH!

GREMAP at the CSEPH 25th anniversary

During the week of the CSEPH event, we were also excited to welcome GREMAP Research Specialist Alejandro-Rodriguez-Putnam, who traveled from San Juan to visit us in Ann Arbor. Here are some pictures from the various social events that we held, including a trivia night and a baking class with Zingerman’s!

Above: GREMAP members at a baking class at Zingerman’s Bakehouse! Many scones were made and consumed. Below: GREMAP members after a trivia night in downtown Ann Arbor.

Earlier this month, GREMAP students and staff participated in the UM Transdisciplinary Aging Research Day. This event was an opportunity for aging-related T32 trainees (i.e., NIH-funded training grants) to network and learn from each other. Presentations were given by trainees from each of the four aging-related T32 programs at the University of Michigan including Training in the Demography and Economics of Aging, Career Training in the Biology Aging, the Physician Scientist Training in Age-Related Disease, and the Interdisciplinary Research Training on Health and Aging. The keynote was given by Dr. Kenneth Langa, who provided an overview of the Health and Retirement study including future directions in cognitive aging research.

GREMAP team members Kallisse Dent, a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology, and Dr. Linh Dang, a recent graduate of the Epidemiology doctoral program, presented their work in the poster session as part of the Interdisciplinary Research Training on Health and Aging program. Overall, this event was a great opportunity to get to connect with other T32 trainees and engage with diverse and interdisciplinary aging research!

Left: Viktoryia Kalesnikava pictured at the poster session. Right: Kallisse Dent (second from the right) and Linh Dang (far right) with fellow T32 trainees.

For those who were unable to attend the “Mind Matters: Suicide Risk During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period” webinar this September, the recording has been made publicly available on YouTube. Please find the link here.

The organizing team also provided several relevant resources on suicide prevention, perinatal health and wellbeing, and other mental health topics that were shared during the webinar. Please find the the resources listed below:

• The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has many resources to learn more about suicide and suicide prevention: https://afsp.org/risk-factors-protective-factors-and-warning-signs/
• For a list of resources related to a variety of mental health topics, including suicide prevention, please visit the U-M Department of Psychiatry Mental Health Resource List: https://michmed.org/resources
• The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline is free and confidential. Text or Call 24/7: 1-833-TLC-MAMA
• Postpartum Support International (PSI) provides support in the form of support groups, peer mentoring, education, and their free helpline. Visit their website at https://www.postpartum.net or call their helpline at 1-800-944-4773
• Michigan Medicine’s Psychiatry Emergency Services free crisis line is available 24/7. Call 734-936-5900 or 734-996-4747
• U-M’s Perinatal and Reproductive Psychiatry Clinic can be reached at 734-764-0231. Call for information or to schedule an evaluation.
• MC3 Perinatal provides a variety of resources for parents and health care providers. Visit their website at https://www.mc3michigan.org or call 844-828-9304

We are very excited to share that Dr. Mezuk and Dr. Kara Zivin will be presenting at an upcoming webinar titled “Mind Matters: Suicide Risk During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period”, co-hosted by the UM Department of Psychiatry, Zero to Thrive, and Perinatal Mental Health and Services and Policy program. This conversation will build off the findings from our paper on suicide during the perinatal period, recently published in JAMA Network Open. 

This webinar will be held virtually on Zoom on Tuesday, September 24th from 7:00-8:30 pm EST. Please find the registration link and additional details here.