Kelly Posner PhD

Founder and Director

The Columbia Lighthouse Project

Dr. Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber is a Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and her work is saving lives all over the globe. The former President of the American Psychiatric Association noted her work with the Columbia Protocol could be “like the introduction of antibiotics.” The architect of Zero Suicide and the U.S. President’s Commission on Mental Health said, “Her work is equivalent to the discovery of a vaccine with the ability to prevent death on a massive scale.” The U.S. Department of Defense said her work is “nothing short of a miracle” and that “her effective model of improving the world will help propel us closer to a world without suicide,” and The White House highlighted the Columbia Protocol app as helping to achieve the President’s mental health and suicide prevention initiatives. The CDC noted that her work is “changing the paradigm in suicide risk assessment in the U.S. and worldwide.”

Dr. Posner was awarded The Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service for her work leading to suicide reduction across the nation and honored at the International Symposium on Suicidology and Public Health with the Exceptional Public Service Award in Suicidology for “her landmark contributions to mental health.”

Dr. Posner’s work has been noted in a keynote speech at the White House and in Congressional hearings, and she gave the lead presentation in a U.S. Senate forum on school safety after Parkland. Jim Shelton, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education under President Obama, says her work “has the potential to keep the 64 million children in our schools safe physically and mentally by helping prevent school violence.” Stand with Parkland parents said, “We found another big piece of the school shooting puzzle – an antibiotic for suicide. This … could fundamentally change the game for early identification and intervention. We found the first thing to interrupt the pathway to violence.”

Leadership of Israel’s national suicide prevention program articulated the Columbia Protocol’s impact: “It’s not only saving millions of lives but in Israel it is literally changing the way we live our lives. We have the C-SSRS as a vehicle for a cultural change. The idea of asking about suicide using a simple yet proven evidence-supported tool has gone further in Israel than just a screening measure. It helps give permission or sends the message that you can talk and ask about anything, empowering people to have a voice.”

Dr. Posner gave the invited presentation on tackling depression and suicide at the first European Union high level conference on mental health. She was recognized as the Most Distinguished Alumna of her graduate school at Yeshiva University in the past 50 years and was named one of New York magazine’s “Most Influential.” In 2016 she was honored with the Angel Award for New York City & State’s Responsible 100, and the Ann Vanderbilt Award for Achievement Partnership with Children. In 2014 she received The Spero Award for Excellence and Profound Commitment to Community Psychiatry, and in 2013, she was awarded with the New York State Suicide Prevention Award.

Dr. Posner was commissioned by the FDA to develop a scientific approach to suicide risk detection that has become the gold standard for suicide monitoring and is ubiquitous across the U.S and worldwide and she is the leading expert on medications and drug safety. The FDA has characterized her work as “setting a standard in the field” and a lead article in The New York Times called it “one of the most profound changes of the past sixteen years to regulations.” She has been instrumental in prevention efforts across the government, partnering with federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice, working hand in hand on workforce prevention and fitness for duty.

As a renowned spokesperson on suicide prevention, the treatment of depression, anxiety, and medication safety among others, she has made extensive appearances on NBC, CBS, World News Tonight, CNN, and many other global media forums.

Dr. Posner has been appointed Chair of the Governor’s Veterans’ Suicide Prevention Task Force in New York. Her scholarly work has been included in the compendium of the most important research in the history of the study of suicide and she was recognized as one of top 20 most influential scientists from Columbia University across all areas of medicine over the past 10 years and Dr. Posner was honored to be included on the 2024 Forbes 50 over 50 list.