# Exploratory Research Project - LEMURS

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER · 2024 · $180,815

## Abstract

LEMURS (EXPLORATORY PROJECT): SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Significance: This project is significant in its bold approach to prevent suicide for college-aged individuals,4
for whom suicide is a leading cause of death. Identification, monitoring, and mitigating suicide risk can save
lives,5–7 yet only a minority of college students with suicidal ideation receive care.8 This project overcomes
barriers to traditional suicide risk screenings: (1) high student health center burden,9 (2) provider discomfort,10,11
(3) infrequent visits, and (4) poor patient recall.9 This project aims to establish the needs, acceptability, usability,
and feasibility of our novel screening technology, as well as explore integrating it with suicide risk interventions.
 Investigators: The project team has extensive research experience with suicidal participants, college
samples, microlongitudinal surveys (Project Co-Lead: Dixon-Gordon); health apps, technological development,
computational modeling (Project Co-Lead: Rundensteiner); implementation science (Lemon); data analysis
(Yang); machine learning (Agu); business development (Dunlap); economics (Singh); and ethics (Nebeker).
 Innovation: This study extends our team’s pioneering mobile health app Early Mental Health Uncovering
(EMU12–16), which uses passively-obtained data streams from students’ smartphones (e.g., GPS, number/type
of contacts, etc.) to screen for depression and suicidal ideation.13,14 Leveraging CAPES resources, we will assess
an automated smartphone-powered strategy to increase the adoption and effectiveness of suicide risk screening,
with resource needs assessment and stakeholder co-development for translation into practice.
 Approach: This project, Leveraging Early Mental Health Uncovering Risk for Suicide (LEMURS), extends
our work on EMU, which uses passively-obtained data from participants’ smartphones to screen for distress and
suicide ideation13,14 and extends this to LEMURS which will activate risk alerts in health provider-facing
dashboards, and applies implementation science principles for integration and uptake in college health centers.
The project has several aims to: (1) understand stakeholder needs and concerns for this technology via
interviews with students, clinicians, and staff; (2) co-develop a provider-facing dashboard responsive to student
preferences and clinician workflow needs via iterative interviews and prototype evaluations; (3) explore how
LEMURS can integrate with suicide risk interventions; and (4) evaluate feasibility/barriers by deploying LEMURS
in a college healthcare setting in 40 students (n=20 with high suicide risk) alongside daily surveys evaluating
self-reported suicide risk. This project will explore system, clinician, and patient influences on implementation.
 Environment: UMass Amherst and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), along with CAPES collaborators,
have proven their ability to support this bold study in their success with developing health-enabling technologies
...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11049011
- **Project number:** 5P50MH129701-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Edwin D Boudreaux
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $180,815
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-04-05 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11049011

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11049011, Exploratory Research Project - LEMURS (5P50MH129701-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11049011. Licensed CC0.

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