Title: Advancing Research to Prevent Suicide Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Advancing Research to Prevent Suicide Act
This bill directs the National Science Foundation to award competitive, merit-reviewed grants to institutions of higher education (or their consortia) to support multidisciplinary, fundamental research with potential relevance to suicide, including potential relevance to prevention and treatment.
In awarding such grants, the NSF shall encourage applications submitted by early career researchers, including doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers, to promote the researchers' development.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3351 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3351

 To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation to support 
 multidisciplinary research on the science of suicide, and to advance 
 the knowledge and understanding of issues that may be associated with 
 several aspects of suicide including intrinsic and extrinsic factors 
   related to areas such as wellbeing, resilience, and vulnerability.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 27, 2020

 Mr. Cornyn (for himself and Ms. Rosen) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation to support 
 multidisciplinary research on the science of suicide, and to advance 
 the knowledge and understanding of issues that may be associated with 
 several aspects of suicide including intrinsic and extrinsic factors 
   related to areas such as wellbeing, resilience, and vulnerability.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Advancing Research to Prevent 
Suicide Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The rate of Americans dying by suicide is on the rise, 
        increasing 10.7 to 14.0 deaths per 100,000 people from 2001 to 
        2017.
            (2) Suicide is the tenth-leading cause of death among 
        people in the United States and the second-leading cause of 
        death for young people between the ages of 15 and 34.
            (3) The National Science Foundation funds research that is 
        improving our basic understanding of factors with potential 
        relevance to suicide, including potential relevance to 
        prevention and treatment.
            (4) Despite progress in mental health research, current 
        gaps exist in scientific understanding and basic knowledge of 
        human neural, genetic, cognitive, perceptual, behavioral, 
        social, and environmental factors with potential relevance to 
        suicide.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION RESEARCH.

    (a) In General.--The Director of the National Science Foundation, 
in consultation with the Director of the National Institutes of Health 
and the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, where 
appropriate, shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, 
award grants on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis to institutions of 
higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) (or consortia of such institutions) to 
support multidisciplinary, fundamental research with potential 
relevance to suicide, including potential relevance to prevention and 
treatment, including--
            (1) basic understanding of human social behavior;
            (2) the neural basis of human cognition;
            (3) basic understanding of cognitive, linguistic, social, 
        cultural, and biological processes related to human development 
        across the lifespan;
            (4) basic understanding of perceptual, motor, and cognitive 
        processes, and their interaction, in typical human behavior; 
        and
            (5) basic understanding of the relevance of drug and 
        alcohol abuse.
    (b) Applications From Early Career Researchers.--To promote the 
development of early career researchers, in awarding funds under 
subsection (a), the Director of the National Science Foundation shall 
encourage applications submitted by early career researchers, including 
doctoral students or postdoctoral researchers.
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