Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber PhD

Dr. Kelly Posner is a Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and her work is saving lives all over the globe across 6 continents. The President of the American Psychiatric Association noted her work with the Columbia Protocol could be “like the introduction of antibiotics.” The U.S. Department of Defense said that her work is “nothing short of a miracle” and stated, “her effective model of improving the world will help propel us closer to a world without suicide.” The CDC noted that her work is “changing the paradigm in suicide risk assessment in the US and worldwide.”

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 forum on school safety at the U.S. Senate in her partnership with the Parkland community. Through her advocacy, she has changed local, national, and international policy, which in turn has helped achieve reductions in suicide across all sectors of society. Israeli government officials said her work “is not only saving millions of lives but in Israel, it is literally changing the way we live our lives.”

She gave the invited presentation on tackling depression and suicide at the first European Union high-level conference on mental health, was recognized as the Most Distinguished Alumna of her graduate school at Yeshiva University in the past 50 years, and received the New York State Suicide Prevention Award. She was also named one of New York Magazine’s “Most Influential.”