The 2010 Research Award will be presented to Drs. Victoria Arango and Ghanshyam Pandey for investigations that have helped to identify biological markers for suicide.

Victoria Arango, Ph.D., is a professor of clinical neurobiology in the department of psychiatry at Columbia University. She is director of the Diane Goldberg Laboratory for the Molecular Imaging of Neural Disorders and the Laboratory of Chemical Neuroanatomy. She is also associate director of the Division of Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Dr. Arango pioneered anatomical studies in the brain of suicide victims, and has found clear evidence of anatomical, neurotransmitter and genetic alterations indicating that biological changes in the brain contribute to the risk for suicide in adults. For over 20 years, she has continuously received NIH funding to study suicide and is considered an international expert in the field of the biology of suicide. She currently serves on the AFSP Scientific Advisory Board and Grants Review Committee.

Ghanshyam Pandey, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology in the department of psychiatry and director of Biological Research Laboratories at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is a renowned expert on biochemical abnormalities associated with mood disorders and suicide. His main research interests are the neurobiology of mood disorders, schizophrenia and suicide.

Dr. Pandey’s postmortem brain research of adult and teenage suicide victims, supported from several NIMH grants, is helping to elucidate the biological abnormalities associated with mood disorders and suicide and identify specific abnormal sites in the brain that may help in developing therapeutic agents targeting these sites. These findings, which have been presented in national and international meetings and published in high impact journals, could lead to the early identification and treatment of suicidal patients. Pandey currently serves on the AFSP Scientific Council.

Maj. Gen. Mark Graham, his wife Carol and daughter Melanie will receive AFSP’s Public Service Award for bringing national attention to the problem of suicide, both in the military and among the civilian population.

Since the tragic loss of their sons, University of Kentucky Senior ROTC Cadet Kevin Graham to suicide, and Army 2nd Lt. Jeffrey Graham to combat in Iraq, the Grahams have been featured on CNN, ABC, in the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets, helping to reduce the stigma surrounding the disorders that can lead to suicide and breaking down the barriers that keep those at risk from seeking help.

While commanding general at the U.S. Army base in Fort Carson, Colo., Gen. Graham enacted measures to ensure that all soldiers received full military funerals and memorial services, regardless of whether they died in combat or by suicide. He was also proactive in identifying soldiers in need of help -- establishing a team of more than a dozen mental-health professionals to work with individual brigades before, during and after their time in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Carol Graham continues to speak out to raise awareness about depression and suicide -- including the dangers of untreated post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury -- to soldiers and their families, and to help fellow survivors of suicide loss to heal. Carol currently serves on AFSP’s Public Policy Council.

The Grahams have established a memorial fund at the University of Kentucky to raise awareness about the signs of depression and suicide prevention, and Melanie Graham worked with Cameron University in Oklahoma to establish an endowed lectureship in psychology to honor her brothers. Carol also helped establish the Jeff and Kevin Graham Memorial Crisis Hotline in El Paso County, Colo., part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Dana and Hart Perry, along with HBO Documentary Films, will receive AFSP’s Public Education Award for the groundbreaking film Boy Interrupted, which tells the story of the Perry’s 15-year-old son, Evan, who died by suicide after struggling with bipolar disorder.

As professional filmmakers, the Perry’s were accustomed to making extensive personal films and videos of the family, never suspecting that their footage of Evan -- taken from the moment of his birth throughout childhood and adolescence -- would end up becoming the primary source material for this poignant documentary.

The film created awareness about suicide and its relationship to mood disorders and has advanced the public’s understanding of the impact suicide has on surviving family and friends.

Boy Interrupted was an official selection for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and premiered in August on HBO. AFSP and HBO held a special screening of the film last June in Chicago, on the eve of the Foundation’s Out of the Darkness Overnight walk.