# UC San Diego Clinical and Translational Research Institute

> **NIH NIH UL1** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2023 · $213,818

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The co-occurrence of substance use and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs; suicidal ideation, suicide
attempt) in adolescents is both common and deadly. Adolescents who report comorbid substance use and
suicidality are at high risk of suicide. Unfortunately, clinicians’ ability to predict the emergence of both remains
near-chance, with the current standard of care relying on non-biological measures, such as patient self-report
and clinical impression.
In this proposal, we leverage machine learning to better understand the predictive power of neural health on
the emergence of substance use, suicidality, and their co-occurrence, using data from the Adolescent Brain
Cognitive Development (ABCD) study (n=11,878). We will examine a set of structural brain and neurocognitive
features of the sample at three-time points: Baseline (ages 9-10), Year 2 (ages 11-12), and Year 4 (ages 13-
14). Our primary aim is to identify structural brain and neurocognitive features associated with longitudinal
changes in (1) substance use, (2) suicidality, and (3) comorbid substance use and suicidality. Very little
research has examined neural factors that may precede suicidality, and no research has examined how these
factors might predict comorbid substance use and suicidality in a large, longitudinal sample of preadolescents
and adolescents.
The training gained by completing this research with guidance from a diverse team of mentors will pave the
way for career independence as an interdisciplinary clinical scientist with expertise in machine learning and
neuroscience. Finally, the results of this study will suggest avenues for neuroscience-informed assessments
and the development of an adjunctive cognitive remediation intervention targeting modifiable neurobiological
risk factors associated with co-occurring substance use and suicidality for preadolescents and adolescents.
This study has the potential for high public health impact and promise to help improve the quality of life for
preadolescents and adolescents at high risk for suicide.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10733080
- **Project number:** 3UL1TR001442-09S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** GARY S FIRESTEIN
- **Activity code:** UL1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $213,818
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2015-08-13 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10733080

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10733080, UC San Diego Clinical and Translational Research Institute (3UL1TR001442-09S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10733080. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*