“RNA editing patterns as blood biomarker for predicting suicide risk” is an ambitious new study led by an interdisciplinary team of 91ֿ researchers. Principal investigator Helen Piontkivska, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and an affiliate of the Brain Health Research Institute and the Healthy Communities Research Institute. Mark Dalman, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Podiatric Medicine, serves as a co-investigator alongside Deric Kenne, Ph.D., director of the Center for Public Policy and Health and professor in the College of Public Health. A two-year grant funded by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will allow the team to explore the use of blood-based RNA editing biomarkers as potential predictors of suicidal ideation, a method never explored before. If successful, such biomarkers may later be used to inform targeted interventions and monitoring.
The study addresses the question, "How can we better or more optimally detect and predict risk?”, which is a top priority of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s Research Prioritization Task Force. When attempting to identify a person at risk of suicide, the current and most relied-upon approach is to assess physical appearance, actions, and verbalized intentions. However, Dr. Piontkivska’s study will go beyond this current methodology to use gene expression-based identifiers.
The study will collect blood samples from participants receiving mental health care who have reported recent thoughts of suicide. These samples will be used to infer RNA editing profiles using computational approaches developed in Piontkivska’s lab. These profiles will then be analyzed to determine whether dynamic RNA editing dysregulation is associated with suicidal ideation risk and whether changes in RNA editing patterns can serve as biomarkers of suicidal ideation and/or recovery. Dr. Piontkivska, Dr. Kenne, Dr. Dalman, and the rest of the research team at 91ֿ are hoping that results from this novel study – that combines existing approach of accessing physical identifiers with biological markers - could lead to improvements in suicide prevention and treatment, and ultimately, to better mental health outcomes.