Biography
Dr. Cynthia Ewell Foster is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan and leads the community engagement core for U-M’s Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention. The former director of U-M’s University Center for the Child and Family, she holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (Child and Family Subspecialty).
Dr. Ewell Foster leads the Suicide Prevention Research in the Community Lab (SPRCL), which is affiliated with the Youth Depression and Suicide Prevention (YDSP) program. Dr. Ewell Foster’s research focuses on community-engaged suicide prevention strategies with the goal of optimizing the protective influences of the systems that surround youth (such as family, schools, communities, and the health care system). Her research and program evaluation work has been funded by the NIMH, CDC, and SAMHSA as well as local and national foundations.
Dr. Ewell Foster is also a clinician and clinical educator; she specializes in suicide risk assessment and care management, treatments for internalizing disorders, and the development of family and community supports for young people. Dr. Ewell Foster is the co-author of Teen Suicide Risk: A Practitioner Guide to Screening, Assessment, and Management published by Guilford Press. Dr. Ewell Foster leads Michigan’s SAMHSA-funded Youth Suicide Prevention Emergency Department Network and provides trainings for clinicians statewide on Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk.
Areas of Interest
- Suicide risk assessment and care management
- Development of family and community supports for youth to reduce risk for suicide
- Interventions to promote firearms safety
- Evaluation of community-based public health approaches to suicide prevention
Featured News
Firearms and mental health: 8 top facts to know
With suicides making up more than half of gun-related deaths, and new laws on the books, experts give key insights related to people with mental health conditions and those who love them
Projects share $2.1M to aid firearm-injury prevention research
University of Michigan Office of the Vice President for Research press release
Transforming Youth Suicide Prevention in Michigan-3 SAMHSA grant program
Enhancing the availability of suicide prevention best practices in communities across the state
Firearm Safety: A Comprehensive Approach
Cynthia Ewell Foster, Ph.D., discussed firearm safety in the "Well Aware" series.
Tailored approach makes inroads in rural firearm safe storage
First test of online prevention strategy in rural Michigan shows promise for reducing risk in firearm-owning families with children.
Credentials
- Postdoctoral Fellowship: University of Michigan, Department of Psychiatry, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- Clinical Internship: Children’s Hospitals and Clinics, Department of Psychology, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
- Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, Child and Family Subspecialty; Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
- M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
- B.A. (Psychology; Conferred with High Honors, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa), Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
