Cynthia Fontanella, LISW

About

Biography

I am a Professor at The Ohio State University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Principal Investigator in the Center for Suicide Prevention and Research within the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Chaddock/Morrow Endowed scholar. My research focuses on characterizing demographic and clinical profiles of suicidal youth within “boundaried” settings, understanding patterns and trends in utilization and quality of health and mental health care for suicidal youth and how this affects outcomes, and strategies for suicide prevention in various health care settings. My work leverages “big data” and big data analytics to answer important clinical and health policy questions related to mental health service use, quality of care, and youth suicide at the national level.

I have published in leading academic journals such as Jama Pediatrics, JAMA Network Open, Pediatrics, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and my work has been cited in national media outlets including CNN, NPR, and the New York Times. I am currently the MPI on a NIMH center grant on youth suicide prevention (P50MH127476-01) and have a strong record of NIH funded research currently serving as MPI or PI on 4 NIH grants totaling approximately 22 million dollars.

Credentials

Research

News and media

My news coverage

• Youths With Mood Disorders Who Use Marijuana At Higher Risk For Death, Self-Harm
• Study Finds More Mental Health Visits Decreases Risk Of Suicide Among Youths
• Ohio State Study Finds Suicide Rates Climbing, Especially In Rural America
• Youth Suicide Rate Is Nearly Double The Rate In Cities