
Meet the 6th International Zero Suicide Summit Speakers

City Councilor
Naga City, Philippines
Gayle began her work with LGU Naga in 2004 as a volunteer Psychologist of the Naga City Bantay Familia, supporting victims of abuse and domestic violence. She later developed the Psychosocial Interventions for Families, training volunteers to promote family communication and well-being, which became a model for community-based mental health and earned recognition for the City to be a Local Learning Hub in gender-responsive programs.
In 2006, she expanded into disaster response, serving as a Katatagan Resiliency Program trainer and organizing psychosocial support for crisis-affected communities in Camarines Sur and Albay, including founding the Ateneo de Naga Psychosocial Response Team. She also helped develop Katatagan Kontra Droga sa Komunidad, widely adopted by LGUs and universities, and advanced community-based recovery through USAID’s RenewHealth Project and her leadership in the Psychological Association of the Philippines Special Interest Groups, including co-developing Katatagan Online in 2020 to respond to the growing mental health concerns during the pandemic.
Now in her second term as Naga City Councilor, she leads initiatives on mental health, family relations, gender equality, social welfare, and people empowerment. She authored key measures on reproductive health, safe spaces, and gender-based violence protection, while advancing mental health policies and new ordinances on parental responsibility, mental health emergency response, and trauma-sensitive reporting. She initiated the development of Angat Kahimati, Angat Buhay’s community-based mental health program which pioneered in Naga City, Philippines. She is also an Associate Professor at Ateneo de Naga University, a licensed psychologist, and a Ph.D. holder with over 25 years of experience in mental health practice.

Executive Director, Zero Suicide International®
Program Co-Director, MI Mind
Henry Ford Health, USA
Brian Ahmedani, PhD, is a senior scientist, licensed clinician, and director of the Center for Healthcare Improvement at Henry Ford Health in Detroit, Michigan USA, where he also serves as director of research in Behavioral Health Services. He is widely considered a global leader in suicide prevention research and care. Dr. Ahmedani has served as the principal investigator on >50 grant funded projects and has >250 publications on suicide prevention and mental health services. He leads Henry Ford Health’s suicide prevention portfolio of programs. This includes serving as program director for the statewide MI Mind collaborative quality improvement program and executive director for Zero Suicide International. Dr. Ahmedani was named one of the world’s most influential leaders in health in 2026 by Time Magazine. He has been invited to The White House multiple times and received several prestigious awards for his work, including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Research Award in 2022. He served as Chair of the Governor’s Michigan Suicide Prevention Commission from 2020-2024 and has been an expert advisor on several national and international policy and quality committees.

Lived Experience Network Coordinator
Orygen Global, Venezuela / Switzerland
Adrián brings both lived and professional experience to suicide prevention work. Their path into the field began during university, and has since spanned frontline practice, community advisory work, and international policy.
For five years, Adrián was part of the Government of Nunavut's territorial mental health team in Iqaluit, supporting addiction recovery, youth mental health, and suicide prevention programming in one of the regions most affected by suicide worldwide. Central to that work was building meaningful participatory practices to ensure programs and policies were shaped and led by the Inuit communities they were meant to serve. They remain an advisor to Aqqusariaq, an Inuit-led treatment centre in Iqaluit, set to open this fall.
Today, Adrián serves as Lived Experience Network Coordinator at Orygen Global, coordinating a Wellcome Trust–funded Community of Practice on psychosocial interventions for young people, and consults with the Brain Health Collective on an initiative centering lived experience in global mental health policy. They hold a Master's degree in Social Work as a Human Rights Profession from Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin.
For this panel, Transforming Prevention through Lived Experience, Adrián speaks to what it takes to embed lived experience meaningfully into prevention frameworks, drawing on both the personal experience that shaped their own path into this work and years spent helping build systems that put those most affected at the center of the solutions meant for them.

Head of Psychiatry
Wellspring, Indonesia
Dr. Jiemi Ardian is a practicing psychiatrist at Wellspring Indonesia, a doctoral candidate in Public Health at Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS), and one of the country's leading voices in mental health advocacy and suicide prevention. He developed Trauma Processing Therapy (TPT), an innovative clinical approach grounded in predictive processing and memory reconsolidation research, and his current doctoral work focuses on implementation science for trauma-informed interventions.
Beyond his clinical practice and academic research, Dr. Ardian is a bestselling author and prominent educator reaching over one million people across digital platforms. His work plays a vital role in destigmatizing depression, trauma, and help-seeking in Indonesia. A dedicated advocate for responsible public communication, he also co-led an initiative providing content creators and media outlets with ethical guidelines to prevent sensationalized suicide reporting and reduce copycat risks. By translating rigorous clinical science into accessible, practical tools, Dr. Ardian acts as a crucial bridge between evidence-based practice and broad public awareness.

Independent Mental Health Advocate
Nigeria / United Kingdom
Tiwa Ayeni is a mental health advocate based in London, working across mental health policy, advocacy and global mental health.
Drawing on her own lived experience of mental health crises and suicidality as a young person, Tiwa is passionate about the role timely and accessible support can play in preventing people from reaching crisis. This perspective developed further through her work as an Independent Mental Health Advocate, working alongside people detained in psychiatric hospitals and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to ensure their rights, wishes and voices remained central to decisions about their care. Together, these experiences have shaped her interest in where opportunities for earlier support are missed, where services fall short, and how policy can strengthen approaches to prevention.
Now working in policy and influencing at Mind, one of the UK’s leading mental health charities, Tiwa brings these perspectives into wider work on systems and policy change. Across youth mental health, advisory groups, governance and service improvement, much of her work has centered on bringing young people and lived experience voices into spaces where they have not always been heard.
Internationally, her work has explored suicide prevention and digital platforms, early intervention, community-based approaches to care, deinstitutionalization and human rights, including through speaking at the World Health Assembly in Geneva. Tiwa is also a member of the Global Mental Health Action Network’s Deinstitutionalization Expert by Experience Advisory Group, as well as a reviewer of forthcoming World Health Organization guidance on deinstitutionalization.

Medical Director, Behavioral Health
BCBSM/BCN, USA
Dr Beecroft is currently responsible for the Behavioral Health medical administration of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan Behavioral Health strategy and planning team. He has been a strong advocate for Suicide prevention, Integrated Behavioral Health care along with the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic, the Collaborative Care Model expansion, Crisis services, Feeding disorders treatment, Adult and Child intensive services and First Episode Psychosis programming.
Dr. Beecroft received his MD from Michigan State University. He is board certified in General psychiatry with added qualifications in Geriatrics and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
Dr Beecroft is the past president of the Michigan Psychiatric Society. He was named a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association in 2018. He was awarded the NAMI 2023 lifetime achievement award, and was a Commissioner on the Michigan Governor’s Suicide Prevention Commission for four years.

Program Co-Director, MI Mind
Henry Ford Health, USA
Dr. Frank, currently the Co-Director of MI Mind, a BCBSM supported suicide prevention study, earned her bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University and a Master’s degree in social work at the University of Michigan. After successfully practicing as a psychiatric social worker for nine years she decided to return to medical school graduating from the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University. She competed her psychiatry residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and was the Chief Resident of Primary Care Psychiatry. Following graduation, Dr. Frank joined the faculty at Henry Ford for 19 years and served in a variety of positions, including Director of Residency Training, Director of Psychiatric Education, Director of Forensic Psychiatry, and Director of Outpatient Psychiatry. Additionally, she had ongoing research grants and a clinical practice, specializing in mood disorders. Dr. Frank went on to serve as Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs and Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine for eight years prior to accepting the Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Henry Ford Health in Detroit. She served in this position and also as Emeritus Chair until 2024. She continues to work in research in suicide prevention at Henry Ford.
She is a well-known speaker in the areas of mood disorders, suicide and violence prevention, ADHD, opiates and pain management, and women and mental health. Dr. Frank is one of the principle authors and originators of Zero Suicide prevention guidelines, which were central to the award of The Joint Commission’s highest honor, the Codman Award and the American Psychiatric Association's Gold Award while she was at Henry Ford. She is committed to ongoing suicide prevention strategies.

Senior Policy Officer
United for Global Mental Health, South Africa
Shayni is a public mental health professional with 10+ years of experience supporting NGOs, academia, and governments to improve mental health outcomes of the people they serve. She currently serves as a Senior Policy Officer at United for Global Mental Health, a leading international advocacy organisation, where her work focuses on increasing access to quality mental health services and creating enabling legislative environments, including through suicide decriminalisation.
Previously, Shayni was Advocacy Lead at the South African Federation for Mental Health (SAFMH), South Africa’s largest mental health federation. Shayni holds an MSc in Global Mental Health from King’s College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and previously served on the Strategic Advisory Group for the World Health Organization’s Department of Mental Health, Brain Health, and Substance Use.
She is a well-known speaker in the areas of mood disorders, suicide and violence prevention, ADHD, opiates and pain management, and women and mental health. Dr. Frank is one of the principle authors and originators of Zero Suicide prevention guidelines, which were central to the award of The Joint Commission’s highest honor, the Codman Award and the American Psychiatric Association's Gold Award while she was at Henry Ford. She is committed to ongoing suicide prevention strategies.

Head of the Research Department
113 Suicide Prevention, Netherlands
Prof. dr. Renske Gilissen is Professor by Special Appointment at Leiden University and Head of the Research Department at 113 Suicide Prevention, the national organization for suicide prevention in the Netherlands. She leads the largest suicide prevention research group in the Netherlands, focusing on the identification of risk and protective factors for suicidal behavior, as well as the development, evaluation, and implementation of evidence-based suicide prevention interventions.
Her research addresses a wide range of methods, including psychosocial autopsy studies and implementation studies of mental healthcare- and community-based prevention strategies. Through close collaboration with healthcare providers, policymakers, and people with lived experience, she aims to improve the effectiveness and accessibility of suicide prevention efforts.
She is also Chair of the national suicide research consortium SURE-Net. In 2020, she founded the "Commissie Actuele Nederlandse Suïcideregistratie" (CANS), which monitors suicides and attempts in the Netherlands in real time, enabling potential increases in rates to be detected immediately.

Co-Owner, Principal Researcher
JG Research and Evaluation, USA
Dr. Green is the Co-Owner and Principal Researcher at JG Research and Evaluation. He has more than 15 years of applied research, evaluation, knowledge transfer, and project management, as a social epidemiologist, focused on community health, behavioral health, and disparities in access to care. He received a Master’s in Divinity from Wake Forest University and a PhD in rural sociology from the Pennsylvania State University.

Director of the Zero Suicide Institute
Education Development Center, USA
Dr. Goldstein Grumet is Vice President for Suicide Prevention Strategy and Director of the Zero Suicide Institute at the Education Development Center (EDC). She provides leadership for the Zero Suicide movement in the United States and beyond, by delivering strategic guidance for the adoption and evolution of the framework since its launch in 2012 at EDC. Dr. Goldstein Grumet delivers practical, evidence-based, and scalable solutions for healthcare systems and providers that address shared risk factors to improve long-term mental health and well-being for individuals. She addresses policy initiatives that reduce barriers and improve access to care and provides consultation, expertise, and training that supports the adoption, sustainability, and evaluation of evidence-based practices within healthcare systems. Dr. Goldstein Grumet has expertise in behavioral health transformation, state and local community suicide prevention, quality improvement, school mental health, and the use of evidence-based practices for suicide care.
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Community Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Program Lead
ADD International, Bangladesh
Mr. Abdullah Al Harun is a Standard Mental Health First Aid instructor, mental health and suicide prevention advocate, policy analyst, researcher, and mental health social worker. He has been working for mental health and disability-inclusive development in Bangladesh for the last two decades. Mr. Harun is the lead of the Community Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Program at ADD International. He is providing initial help to people experiencing mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, disorders, and psychosis and suicidal thoughts.
In addition to having a master's degree in public policy and management and a postgraduate degree in development planning, Mr. Harun is an expert on facilitating the development of suicide prevention programs and community-based mental health systems.
He actively engages in an array of activities and maintains relationships with many regional and international networks on mental health and suicide prevention, such as the Zero Suicide International Asia Alliance (as Bangladesh representative), the Global Mental Health Action Network (as Co-Chair, Suicide Prevention Working Group), and the International Association for Suicide Prevention (as Bangladesh representative).
Mr. Harun has written many articles and carried out numerous studies on mental health, suicide, suicide prevention, and the evolution of Bangladesh's mental health system. He has presented these findings at multiple international conferences and seminars. His research covers a variety of subjects, including the prevalence of suicide and suicidal thoughts among individuals with disabilities, the negative impacts of common beliefs and misconceptions about suicide, post-traumatic experiences involving non-fatal suicide attempts, the state of suicide and suicide prevention in the nation with limited resources, etc. Mr. Harun is the author and editor of several training manuals, recommendations, guidelines for mental health and suicide, and educational and awareness materials.

Mental Health Network Manager
NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation, Australia
Deborah (Deb) Howe is the Mental Health Network Manager with the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation. Known for her strategic leadership, collaborative style and commitment to system improvement, Deb is passionate about ensuring suicide prevention remains a shared responsibility across the health system. She champions innovation, partnership and quality improvement to support better outcomes for those affected by suicide and mental ill-health.

Director
Zero Suicide Alliance, UK
Dr Claire Iveson is Director of the Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA), Consultant Clinical Psychologist, and Associate Director for suicide prevention and quality practice at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. Claire has worked in the NHS for 28 years and brings 24 years of clinical experience as a Clinical Psychologist within mental health across diverse settings. She is dedicated to advancing suicide awareness and prevention through her specialist experience in evidence‑based initiatives and innovative practice. She has worked in frontline services with individuals experiencing suicidal thoughts and is trained in a range of clinical approaches. Claire was a key author of the ZSA SHARE resource and has acted as a clinical advisor for the ZSA since the start of the initiative in 2017.
Claire contributes her expertise to support clinical research and she plays an active role in national and international conversations, sharing insights on safety planning, clinical risk management, and suicide prevention through safer quality care. She has contributed to national and international conferences, and her work promotes research, learning, and collaboration to improve care and save lives.
Claire brings her strategic leadership skills to the ZSA from her role in Mersey Care where she is responsible for designing innovative and evidenced based workstreams and supporting frontline line staff with clinical decision making. Her experience enables the team to deliver a wide range of projects while providing clinical insights and expertise to ensure safe approaches that align with best practice and empower communities.
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Co-Founder, Concert Health, USA
Co-Founder and CEO, Zero Overdose, USA
Dr. Virna Little is a distinguished leader in behavioral health integration. She is the co-founder of Concert Health, a behavioral health medical group which provides Collaborative Care to organizations across 21 states. Dr. Little is also the Co-Founder and CEO of Zero Overdose, a national non-profit focused on overdose safety planning to reduce unintentional overdose events and deaths. Dr. Little has served as a member of the national Zero Suicide faculty and a consultant who was fostered the development of integrated delivery systems nationally in all 50 states and internationally. Dr. Little holds a Doctoral degree in Psychology, a Master's in Social Work.
A nationally and internationally recognized speaker, Dr. Little has presented on suicide prevention strategies at the White House. She has received numerous awards for her work in integrating primary care and behavioral health and serves on multiple boards .

Director of Health Research
Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, Dominican Republic
Dr. Nelson Martínez Rodríguez is a physician who graduated Magna Cum Laude and holds a Master’s degree in Biomedical Research. He currently serves as Director of Health Research at the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance of the Dominican Republic, Coordinator of the Academic Subcommittee for Medical Research at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), and Continuing Education Coordinator at the Ven y Ve Institute of Mental Health.
With more than 13 years of teaching experience, his academic work focuses on biostatistics, epidemiology, evidence-based medicine, bioethics, and research methodology. He is a certified Scientific Researcher in Health Sciences and a member of the National Career System for Researchers in Science, Technology and Innovation.
Dr. Martínez Rodríguez also represents the Dominican Republic in regional and international health research networks, including CTIS and RIMAIS. Throughout his career, he has presented 132 lectures and scientific posters at national and international conferences, coordinated 70 research studies, and authored 42 scientific articles.

Country Officer
World Health Organization, Nepal
Dr Kedar Marahatta is technical focal person on mental health and substance use at WHO Country Officer for Nepal. In this current role, he supports the Government of Nepal in strengthening the national mental health system through legal and policy reforms; partner coordination, resource mobilization and integrating MH interventions into different plans and programs.
Prior to joining WHO, Dr Marahatta served as a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Lalitpur Nepal.
Dr Marahatta holds MBBS and MD in Psychiatry. He has published various scientific papers in mental health and related fields in national and international journals.

Family Advisor
Health NZ Auckland Mental Health Management, New Zealand
Leigh Murray is an experienced Family Advisor at Health NZ Auckland Mental Health Management bringing her lived experience to support family inclusive service delivery. She is a member of the Auckland Te Tira Tūmanako (Towards Hope) Governance group implementing an Aotearoa adaptation of the Zero Suicide Framework. Following the October 2022 Zero Suicide Healthcare Gold Coast forum, Leigh joined TZSHA.

Director
Zero Suicide Institute of Australasia, Australia
Sue Murray OAM is a health promotion advocate dedicated to improving the health and well-being of all people. Throughout her career she has focused on health for the community and has expertise in communications, education and organisational development.
Sue currently leads the Zero Suicide Institute of Australasia which aims to support the healthcare system understand and more effectively manage those who are vulnerable to suicidal behaviour.
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Deputy Director for Strategy
Richard McKeon has worked actively in suicide prevention for over three decades and is recognized as both a national and international expert. He served on the leadership groups for both the 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. In 2023, he was awarded the American Association for Suicidology Dublin Award for Lifetime Achievement in Suicide Prevention.
Richard is the Deputy Director for Strategy at the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention at EDC. Before joining EDC, he worked at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) from 2004-2026. While at SAMHSA, he served for 12 years as Chief for the Suicide Prevention Branch. He oversaw development of the Garrett Lee Smith State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention grant program which has demonstrated reductions in youth suicide in funded counties; the Campus Suicide Prevention program; Zero Suicide grants; the Suicide Prevention Resource Center; and the Native Connections program. Richard has worked with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline since its inception in 2005, including establishing the foundation for 988 as the national suicide prevention number.
To advance suicide prevention worldwide, Richard participated in developing the World Health Organization’s first World Suicide Report and has served as U.S. representative to the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP). He is engaged in IASP’s Partnerships for Life efforts to promote the development of national strategies around the world, including serving as Scientific Co-chair for the 2026 IASP Conference in Costa Rica.
Richard is a licensed psychologist with a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Arizona and holds an MPH from Columbia University.

Health Specialist
UNICEF, Thailand
Ruth O'Connell is a Health Specialist with UNICEF, based in Bangkok Climate Centre of Excellence, where she provides technical leadership and support on mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) across Asia and the Pacific region to UNICEF country offices and partners. She currently works on strengthening child, adolescent, and caregiver mental health systems through policy development, technical assistance, workforce capacity building, and multisectoral programming.
With more than 20 years of experience in humanitarian and development settings, Ruth has worked across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East with UNICEF, Save the Children, and other international organizations. Her work has focused on integrating mental health and psychosocial support into health, education, child protection, and social service systems, with a particular emphasis on vulnerable and crisis-affected populations.
Ruth has led regional and global initiatives on child and adolescent mental health, suicide prevention, systems strengthening, and community-based approaches to psychosocial wellbeing. She has supported governments and partners to develop policies, scale evidence-informed interventions, strengthen frontline workforces, and improve access to quality mental health services for children, adolescents, caregivers, and communities.
A strong advocate for prevention and early intervention, Ruth is particularly interested in how health systems can move beyond crisis response toward integrated, people-centred models of care that promote wellbeing across the life course. Her current work includes supporting countries to strengthen suicide prevention efforts and research contextually appropriate solutions and include children and adolescents in research and advocacy.
At the Zero Suicide Conference, Ruth will bring perspectives from UNICEF's work with adolescents on addressing the drivers of suicide and identifying contextually appropriate, participatory responses.

Program Manager, MI Mind
Henry Ford Health, USA
An experienced program manager, Omdal’s background includes work with the Mental Health Service Corps (part of the City University of New York), the Primary Care Information Project at the New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the American Lung Association’s NYC Asthma Coalition. Working with collaborative care initiatives across New York City, she has provided project management support to increase access to mental health services within primary care outpatient clinics. Her experience includes working closely with health system leadership on quality improvement initiatives for inpatient and outpatient settings. Omdal acted as director of a quality collaborative to launch several pediatric asthma improvement projects, trained and supervised health education staff, and hosted events for the coalition. With a master’s degree in public health from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, Omdal’s study emphasis was in epidemiology and biostatistics. Her role with MI Mind includes program administration, strategic partnerships with other Collaborative Quality initiatives at Henry Ford Health and University of Michigan Medicine, operational oversight of the Coordinating Center team and engagement with Physician Organization leadership for collaborative participation.

Research Fellow
Harvard Medical School, Indonesia
Dr. Sandersan Onie is the Lynch Family Foundation Research Fellow in Global Health Equity at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School. Since earning his PhD from UNSW School of Psychology in 2019, his work has focused on global mental health and suicide prevention, with projects spanning the Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Americas. He specializes in developing scalable digital mental health interventions, national suicide prevention strategies, and task-sharing approaches to expand access to psychotherapy in low-resource settings. In 2022, he co-led the world's first unified religious statement on mental health and suicide at the G20, an initiative that earned a Guinness World Record. He also serves on a taskforce established by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to address the regulation of online platforms and artificial intelligence. Beyond Harvard, Dr Onie is an international editorial board member of Lancet Psychiatry, an Adjunct Professor at Kanazawa University, Vice President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, Chair of Wellspring Center Indonesia, and Founding Co-Chair of the Lancet Western Pacific Commission on Reimagining Healthcare in Indonesia for 2045. He also serves as a consultant to the World Health Organization HQ's Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health.

Director of Vulnerable Groups Health Services
Ministry of Health, Indonesia
Dr. Imran Pambudi is the Director of Vulnerable Groups Health Services at the Ministry of Health Indonesia, leading national initiatives to strengthen inclusive health systems for the elderly, persons with disabilities, violence against woman and children, mental health and also marginalized communities. With over 20 years of experience, he has advanced mental health services, disaster response, and disability-friendly healthcare, while also holding senior roles in communicable disease control and global health diplomacy. His leadership has secured major international funding, shaped national policies, and reinforced Indonesia’s voice in global health forums.
Internationally, Dr. Pambudi has represented Indonesia in high-level forums including the Global Health Security Agenda, WHO, G20 and ASEAN One Health Summit. His career reflects a commitment to strengthening health systems, forging impactful partnerships, and ensuring that vulnerable communities are not left behind in global health progress.

Psychiatrist
The Ministry of Health, Malaysia
Ravivarma Rao Panirselvam is a psychiatrist and suicide prevention researcher based in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. He is a member of the National Technical Working Group for Suicide Prevention, which designs and implements suicide prevention policies in Malaysia.
He became a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK in 2017 and was honoured with the Young Psychiatrist Award by the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists in 2018. In 2019, he completed a training fellowship in Child and Adolescent Research at Fondazione Child in Rome.
Dr. Ravi is committed to enhancing community capacity for suicide prevention through gatekeeper training for frontliners, healthcare professionals and young people, crisis negotiation training, and advocacy for the decriminalisation of suicide attempts. He actively contributes to the National Technical Working Group for Suicide Prevention and the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP). He has also collaborated on the Crisis Now conferences and Zero Suicide Asia Alliance. Recently, he has been instrumental in developing media standards for suicide content through the Content Forum and the national postvention guidelines.

Founder
SafeSide Prevention, USA
Prof. Tony Pisani has devoted his career to preventing suicide and promoting wellbeing. He combines research at the University of Rochester's Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide with practical implementation as the founder of SafeSide Prevention, which works with health, government, and community organizations primarily in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. SafeSide promotes suicide prevention in systems through programming that enhances culture, practice, and workforce education (Pisani & Boudreaux, 2023), with a program development and implementation team based in Australia.
Prof. Pisani was part of one of the first large-scale Zero Suicide implementations in Australia (Stapelberg et al., 2021; Turner et al., 2022), and SafeSide's partnership with the Australian Defence Force recently appeared in a joint publication with Defence wellbeing leaders (Druett et al., 2026). He provided expert testimony to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
Prof. Pisani has served on advisory boards for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, Crisis Text Line, The Jed Foundation, and the Joint Commission. He has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers. His interview podcast, Never the Same (https://safesideprevention.com.au/podcast/never-the-same), explores the intersection of suicide prevention, career development, and life lessons, asking how influential people and their ideas change over time. At the University of Rochester, he founded the Personal AI and Robotics in Mental Health Laboratory (PAIR Lab), which studies how social dynamics between people and AI technologies affect mental health and suicide risk. His work advances a central theme: the power of social connections and mutual support, recognizing that everyone has the capacity to give and to receive.

Olympic Gold Medalist
Indonesia
Greysia Polii is a retired women's doubles badminton athlete from Tomohon, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Greysia retired from professional badminton on June 12, 2022, after a remarkable 30-year career. Alongside her partner Apriyani Rahayu, she made history by winning Indonesia's first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's doubles badminton at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, as well as a gold medal at the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
She also earned three bronze medals at the BWF World Championships: in 2018 and 2019 with Apriyani Rahayu, and in 2015 with Nitya Krishinda Maheswari. Together with Nitya, Greysia also won a gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. She remains the only Indonesian female badminton player to have won titles at every major multi-sport event.
Since retiring from competition, Greysia has remained actively involved in sports leadership and athlete advocacy. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Indonesian National Olympic Committee (NOC Indonesia), and is part of the leadership of Indonesia's national badminton training program (PBSI National Training Center).
In addition to her professional roles, Greysia dedicates her time to her family and several business ventures. In June 2024, she released her autobiography, and on January 15, 2025, she launched a song on streaming platforms titled "Menembus Garis Batas" ("Breaking Through Boundaries").

President
International Association for Suicide Prevention, Australia
Professor Jo Robinson AM leads the Youth Suicide Prevention Research Unit at Orygen, the Centre for Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne. She is also Scientific Director of the Orygen Policy Centre.
Prof Robinson’s work focuses on the development, and testing, of novel interventions that specifically target at risk youth across settings, on evidence synthesis, and on the translation of research evidence into practice and policy.
She was Co-Chair of the Federal Government’s Anti-Bullying Rapid Review, and is a member of the Expert Advisory Group for the Development and Implementation of the Suicide Prevention Strategy for Victoria and former member of the Expert Advisory Group for the Development of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy.
She is President and former Vice-President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and co-chair of an International Taskforce into Suicide Prevention in Women and Girls. She was previously a member of the Self-injury Advisory Group for Meta and for the Oprah Winfrey production The Me You Can’t See.

Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer
United for Global Mental Health, India
Aastha is a Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer at United for Global Mental Health, where she leads national partner engagement for integrating mental health into climate policies and vice versa.
She has over six years of experience working in suicide prevention, policy change, and mental health advocacy. She led a project on pesticide suicide prevention in India, working with regional partners to advocate for pesticide bans to reduce suicide mortality. In her current portfolio, she is working to explore the linkages between suicide prevention, biodiversity loss, and pesticide usage.
Aastha was a 2025 Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity, where her project focused on effective advocacy for suicide decriminalisation as a stepping stone to stronger suicide prevention policies, particularly in the Caribbean region.
Aastha holds a B.A.(Honours) in Psychology from the University of Delhi, and a Master’s in Development Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Suicide Prevention Project Manager
Mersey Care, UK
Joleen works within the Safe from Suicide Team at Mersey Care with a particular focus on working in partnership with other NHS, local authority, and voluntary community faith and social enterprises (VCSE).
With over 20 years NHS experience across Northern Ireland and England and five years focusing on suicide prevention. Joleen has a passion to reduce inequalities and improve access to care and supports VCSE groups to obtain crucial funding for initiatives that support mental health, wellbeing and suicide prevention. Joleen champions and builds connections with and between organisations to maximise opportunities for learning and develop working relationships.
Her commitment to public health has led her to undertake studies to become a Registered Public Health Practitioner - a nationally recognised status that demonstrates her competence, credibility, and dedication to improving population health. This achievement underscores her ability to influence policy, shape best practice, and deliver evidence‑based initiatives that make a measurable difference in communities.
Joleen’s role with the ZSA includes managing projects, sharing innovative ideas for sustainability, and applying her skills in building positive partnerships to enhance our work, extend our reach, and ensure it is shaped by the voices of people with lived experience. She brings strategic, analytical, preventative, and system-wide expertise to the team. Joleen is passionate about supporting improved population wellbeing and reducing suicide risk at a broader scale.

Executive Vice President of Crisis Services
Centerstone, USA
Becky Stoll is the Executive Vice President of Crisis Services at Centerstone, a nonprofit health system specializing in mental health and substance use disorder treatments. Stoll is responsible for leading the Crisis Service Line for Centerstone’s multi-state footprint, including an enterprise crisis call center, state and national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline call/chat/text centers, mobile crisis response teams, crisis walk-in centers and crisis stabilizaton and residential units.
Stoll has more than three decades of experience in crisis services, disaster mental health, and suicide prevention and has worked at Centerstone since 1999, previously holding the positions of vice president of crisis and disaster management, director of crisis services, and crisis call center program manager. Prior to joining Centerstone, she served as the Director of Admissions, Utilization Management and Social Work at First Hospital Corporation in Nashville, Tennessee.
Stoll is the co-chair of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Steering Committee, American Association of Suicidology Advisory Council, and a Chair Emeritus of the Board of Directors for the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. Stoll’s work has been featured in Time Magazine, USA Today, The Washington Post and other major national publications.
Stoll is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Tennessee, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tennessee State University.

Associate Chief of the Division of General Pediatrics and Director of Quality Improvement for Ambulatory Pediatrics
University of Utah Health, USA
Dr. Stipelman is a board-certified academic primary care pediatrician and clinical informaticist. She serves as Professor of Pediatrics, Associate Chief of the Division of General Pediatrics, and Director of Quality Improvement for Ambulatory Pediatrics at University of Utah Health, directing the provision of care to infants through adolescents, with emphasis on care for children with medical complexity and quality improvement research. She also is the provider informaticist for the Women and Children’s Service Line at University of Utah Health. In this capacity, she leads and facilitates diverse and innovative projects in electronic health record optimization and data-driven clinical care. These projects include the development of clinical decision support and structured well-child visit forms to facilitate the recognition and treatment of child suicide risk, increase early human papilloma virus vaccination, decrease unnecessary antibiotic use in newborn nurseries, promote teen confidentiality, and provide guidance about home gun safety.
Dr. Stipelman was the Principal Investigator for Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) and CHIPRA grants that led to the formation of Take Care Utah, a nonprofit that employs 90 insurance navigators across Utah to connect patients to health care, and she was awarded the F. Edwards Rushton Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics for this work. She also has served the American Academy of Pediatrics as chair of the Clinical Health Information and Longitudinal Data (CHILD) Registry Committee and co-chair of the Diagnostic Feedback Committee.

Nurse Consultant
Office of the Chief Psychiatrist, Australia
Sandy Terry is a Nurse Consultant in the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist, South Australia, where she leads the statewide implementation of Towards Zero Suicide.
A passionate “connector”, Sandy works collaboratively with people with lived experience, clinicians and services to drive meaningful change.
Her commitment to suicide prevention is shaped by lived experience and 50 years working in health care.

Associate Professor, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia
Mahidol University, Thailand
Mathuros Tipayamongkholgul, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University, Thailand. With expertise spanning implementation science, evidence-based public health prevention, and health system evaluation, her work focuses on translating epidemiological insights into robust community-health systems.
Dr. Tipayamongkholgul brings direct, practical expertise in systemic suicide prevention to the panel. She served as the Principal Investigator for a key initiative funded by Thailand's National Health Research Institute (NHRI) that used implementation science frameworks (CFIR, RE-AIM, and NPT) to analyze and scale up Thailand's community-based suicide surveillance and preventative systems. Her published research in this domain includes evaluating the execution and outcomes of community-based suicide surveillance systems in Northern Thailand.
Her academic and research career is deeply aligned with regional collaboration and international network building.
She previously served as the Deputy Dean for International Relations and Network and Chair of the International Master of Public Health Program at Mahidol University. Dr. Tipayamongkholgul's regional research program centers heavily on mental health and healthcare access in trans-border communities, including leading systematic reviews on mental health among migrant workers in ASEAN countries and analyzing healthcare status in border provinces. Currently, she is directing a Thai Health Promotion Foundation (THPF) initiative to develop collaborative mechanisms supporting health initiatives for populations residing in border areas between Thailand and neighboring countries.
She earned her Ph.D. from the Institute of Epidemiology at National Taiwan University. Her integrated focus on community-level suicide surveillance, implementation science, and regional health collaboration positions her uniquely to address the collaborative efforts needed for the International Asia Alliance.

Director of Operations, Zero Suicide International
Henry Ford Health, USA
Joslyn Westphal, MPH is the Director of Operations for Zero Suicide International at Henry Ford Health, where she leads strategic planning and operational initiatives supporting the organization’s portfolio of suicide prevention activities and global work in suicide prevention.
She brings more than 13 years of experience managing large-scale behavioral health and public health research and quality improvement programs, and has spent a decade working in suicide prevention through Henry Ford Health’s Center for Healthcare Improvement. Joslyn holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and International Health from the University of Michigan.

Director of Policy
LifeLine International, Australia
Dr Alan Woodward has over 25 years’ experience working with crisis helplines as a service leader, volunteer call taker and researcher. He is the Director of Policy for LifeLine International, a network of 40 organisations in 32 countries. He has advised governments on mental health and suicide prevention. He is a Faculty Member of the Zero Suicide Institute of Australasia.

Executive Director, Global Health Initiative
Associate Director, Zero Suicide International
Henry Ford Health
John Zervos is the founding Executive Director of the Henry Ford Health Global Health Initiative (GHI) and the Associate Director for Zero Suicide International. John’s work focuses on establishing and sustaining mutually beneficial international and domestic partnerships with ministries of health, hospitals, and universities, and securing funding to support global activities.
John has led the strategic growth of the Global Health Initiative from a $75,000 gift in 2014 into a division with a multi-million-dollar annual budget and programs spanning the globe. Under his leadership, GHI has secured more than $100 million in grants and donations while expanding Henry Ford Health’s global partnerships and commitment to social responsibility. John was named a Crain’s Detroit Business Rising Star in Healthcare in recognition of his leadership efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
John earned his JD from Wayne State University and his bachelor’s degree from New York University and serves on several boards and committees, including Global Ties Detroit and the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan’s HOPE Fund.
About Our Master of Ceremonies
Lauren Zakalik is the Associate Vice President of External Communications Strategy at Henry Ford Health, where for the past five years she has led external and executive communications, media relations and organizational storytelling for one of the nation's leading health systems. Prior to joining Henry Ford Health, Lauren was an award-winning television journalist for 15 years at stations in Michigan, New Mexico and Texas. During her time at WFAA-TV in Dallas, she won three EMMY awards, two of which were for in-depth healthcare-related reporting. Lauren holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, and she believes being in a position to tell stories about the extraordinary impact healthcare has on people's lives is a privilege unlike any other.
