History

In 1967, Johns Hopkins received one of the National Institute of Mental Health's first grants specifically to establish a formal two-year Fellowship Program in Suicidology — the study of suicide. The pioneering program was led by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins' school of public health (now the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), and others. It was designed to bring together and prepare postgraduates from diverse disciplines for leadership in treating, teaching, researching, and developing policy toward preventing suicide.

At that time, there were approximately 21,000 suicides per year in the United States. By 2024, that number had more than doubled — a stark indication of the need for a true public-health approach to suicide prevention.

In recognition of that critical need, in 2024 the Bloomberg School of Public Health established the first center for suicide prevention housed within a school of public health, anywhere in the world.

The original Johns Hopkins public health school building, Baltimore, in its early years
The original Johns Hopkins public health school, now the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Image courtesy of Bloomberg School of Public Health