The Southwest Prevention Center at OU Outreach received a five-year, $50 million grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to lead the national Suicide Prevention Resource Center.
The grant will also be used to renew OU’s management of the Southwest Prevention Center, a department of OU Outreach that advocates for the prevention of drug abuse and related high-risk behaviors, according to a Tuesday press release. According to the release, the resource center trains more than 14,000 people annually and has garnered about 1.7 million website views over the past five years.
Belinda Biscoe, OU senior associate vice president for Outreach, wrote in the release that the grant represents a commitment to strengthening communities across the nation.
“We are humbled and honored to lead this effort, bringing together science, compassion and innovation to advance suicide prevention,” Biscoe wrote. “The significance of this award is national in scope, but deeply personal in its impact — it is about offering hope, reducing suffering, and ensuring that every life is valued and protected.”
The release states that Shelby Rowe, Suicide Prevention Resource Center executive director, led staff on OU’s Norman and Health campuses in working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to revise the national strategy for suicide prevention.
According to the release, a study by the Department of Health and Human Services found more than 49,000 people in the U.S. died by suicide in 2022, equal to one death every 11 minutes.
An online survey conducted in 2024 by The Harris Poll, in partnership with Suicide Prevention Resource Center, found that 9 in 10 U.S. adults believe suicide can be prevented at least sometimes, a shift from the belief that suicide was an inevitable outcome, according to the release.
Marie Cox, director of the Southwest Prevention Center and principal investigator on the grant, wrote in the release that the continued connection to the university and OU Outreach provides unique advantages.
“Outreach has deep expertise in bringing research to practice in the area of health and human services, and Southwest Prevention Center is a national leader in building the capacity of public and behavioral health professionals to implement effective interventions,” Cox wrote. “Our Suicide Prevention Resource Center team is setting the pace in this field, and we’re able to tap the resources of Outreach to guide and strengthen our work.”
According to the release, Suicide Prevention Resource Center leaders hope that renewed funding will help ensure that the Southwest Prevention Center continues to expand its training, technical assistance and research translation efforts to strengthen suicide prevention systems.
“Our mission remains clear: empowering communities with the tools, data and strategies needed to save lives,” Biscoe wrote. “With (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s) continued support and our extraordinary partners, we will keep building a future where hope and help are within everyone’s reach."
This story was edited by Thomas Pablo and Ana Barboza. Ryan Little and Gretchen Schultz copy edited this story
