Grant: CIHR Strategic Master's Award - Sex, Gender and Intersectionality in Health Res.

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a psychiatric disorder that affects 1 in 300 people worldwide and is often characterized by poor quality of life. The most concerning aspect of SCZ is the devastatingly high suicide risk (SR) and recent study in Ontario revealed that suicide rate in SCZ patients could be 20-fold higher than in heathy individuals. For this reason, there is urgent need to improve suicide prevention, which requires concrete understanding of multiple factors that influence SR. Sex/gender differences are present in SCZ, with women attempting significantly more, and men having two-times higher mortality rate of suicide. Previous studies showed that social support, which differs across sex-gender, is associated with decreased suicidality in SCZ. Additionally, Male vs. female SCZ patients show different patterns of genetic information. Moreover, the size of certain brain areas such as the amygdala is also related to suicide and is known to differ across sex/gender. Hence, our study will use validated scales to measures social support, as well as DNA analysis and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to understand the sex/gender-related factors that influence suicide in SCZ. Using the high accuracy of MRI and the accessibility of blood samples and social support questionnaires, we aim to investigate if sex/gender-specific changes in the brain, DNA, and social support affect suicide risk. Ultimately, our goal is to develop inclusive and personalized sex/gender-specific suicide prevention measures that can prevent the loss of lives. There are currently 12 suicides/day in Canada; this research aims to advance our understanding of the neurobiology of suicide in order to improve suicide prevention in this country and worldwide.