February 2, 2026
Suicidal behaviour is a universal challenge, claiming the lives of more than 700,000 people each year and affecting millions of loved ones and community members.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is working toward reducing global suicide mortality through global suicide prevention research, policy and partnership strategies. Recently, Dr. Mark Sinyor, Psychiatrist in Sunnybrook’s Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program, was appointed as the global lead of one such strategy, the Partnerships for Life initiative led by the International Association of Suicide Prevention (IASP).
Partnerships for Life is a global initiative that’s establishing an international collaboration of experts, supporting the development of a comprehensive, strategic approach to suicide prevention in countries worldwide. By promoting collaboration, knowledge sharing and mentorship, Partnerships for Life hopes to better inform and support national and sub-national suicide prevention programs around the world.
Dr. Sinyor is also Vice President of IASP and the lead of Sunnybrook’s Suicide Prevention Research Collaborative (SPRC), a multidisciplinary group of researchers working to better understand the psychological, social and biological factors associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours with the goal of preventing suicide.
Together with Dr. Sinyor, SPRC investigators Dr. Rachel Mitchell, Dr. Ayal Schaffer and Dr. Rosalie Steinberg, are leading cutting-edge research to stop suicide and cultivate a future where every individual finds hope, resilience, support and a life worth living.
Safer media reporting on suicide
Dr. Sinyor’s research focuses on understanding how suicide and related outcomes (suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, self-harm) can be prevented through population-level strategies including media interventions and means restriction.
Many of Dr. Sinyor’s studies are rooted in the ‘Papageno’ effect, a phenomenon in which media coverage on stories of survival and non-suicide alternatives to crises, can have a protective effect and are often followed by fewer suicide deaths. In addition to media report, he often looks at different pop culture, like songs or movies, impact suicide outcomes.
In an effort to save lives, Dr. Sinyor’s work is helping to educate and engage media outlets and reporters to inform best practices and create safer strategies that promote more stories of survival.
Social media and youth mental health
Dr. Rachel Mitchell is a child and youth psychiatrist, clinician-researcher, and thought leader in children’s mental health. Concerned about rising rates of suicide and self-harm among Canadian youth—particularly girls—her research focuses on sex- and gender-specific patterns of suicide risk and resilience, with a growing emphasis on the role of social media in youth mental health. Most recently, her work has examined suicide- and self-harm-related content on TikTok, including the use and potential effects of trigger warnings.
Dr. Mitchell’s overarching goal is to inform policy and develop early, targeted interventions that reduce suicide and self-harm risk, keep young people safe—both online and offline—and support them in reaching their full potential.
Deepening understanding of mood disorders and suicidal ideation
Dr. Ayal Schaffer’s research has a focus on optimal management of bipolar disorder, suicide prevention, and where those two areas meet. He is involved in a number of national and international collaborations, including serving as VP Research for the International Society for Bipolar Disorders, and Chairing an international task force on suicide prevention for people with bipolar disorder.
By deepening the understanding of the relationship between mood disorders, suicide risk and prevention opportunities, Dr. Schaffer’s research is addressing some of the key challenges in bipolar disorder, and uses novel approaches to help develop and disseminate the best evidence-based approaches to help people with bipolar disorder live their best lives.
Community-based suicide prevention strategies
Dr. Rosalie Steinberg’s is a psychiatrist, clinician-investigator and health systems leader committed to transforming mental health care through implementation science, quality improvement, and collaborative leadership. Her work focuses on partnering with community organizations to create accessible, integrated mental health treatment programs that support the whole patient, inside and outside of hospital. Her work is helping to inform health system redesign and promote hospital-community collaboration in mental health care.
Dr. Steinberg’s scholarly work is guided by a long-standing vision to address health system gaps using an implementation science framework, a “know-do” or “evidence-to-program” approach, which places emphasis on evaluating and implementing innovative models of care in real-world settings. She is most interested in how best to translate effective interventions into evidence-based practices, considering local context, acceptability, feasibility, fidelity and sustainability. Her quality improvement research and her development of novel service delivery models is grounded in real-world clinical challenges with an aim to bridge gaps and address unmet needs across the continuum of care.
She has led and co-led several provincial and federally funded studies focused on suicide prevention and collaborative care that enhances access to mental health services and optimizes health resource utilization for “at risk” and underserved communities. By partnering with primary care practitioners, community partners and organizations, she works collaboratively to develop personalized, patient-centred and integrated mental health care focused on prevention and recovery with the aim to help patients develop the emotional, social and physical skills they need to overcome complex mental health challenges and thrive in every aspect of their life.
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