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Barbara Stanley, Ph.D.

In Memoriam
Article by J. John Mann, M.D.
The New York Times

Barbara Stanley, Ph.D., was Professor of Medical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons. She was also Director of the Suicide Prevention Training, Implementation and Evaluation for the Center for Practice Innovation and Research Scientist in Molecular Imaging and Neuropathology at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Stanley was the Leader of the Conte Center for Suicide Prevention Project 5, “Stress, Inflammation, Aggression and Emotion Regulation in Suicidal Behavior”.

Research Focus

Dr. Stanley was the principal investigator on several NIMH and foundation grants investigating clinical and neurobiological factors and intervention strategies related to suicidal behavior, self-injury, borderline personality disorder, and depression.

Dr. Stanley was a clinical psychologist who specializes in the treatment of individuals with borderline personality disorder, depression and self-harm. With her colleague, Dr. Gregory Brown, she developed the Safety Planning Intervention that is used in Emergency Departments, inpatient and outpatient facilities, throughout the VA and on crisis hotlines.

She has also mentored several young investigators on fMRI studies examining the interpersonal dysfunction dimension of borderline personality disorder, genetics studies of borderline personality disorder, and treatment engagement trials with suicidal individuals.

Dr. Stanley has received numerous awards including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Research Award and the Suicide Prevention Center of New York Research Award. Among her grant awards is an NIMH “Excellence in Curriculum” award (with Beth Brodsky) to develop a Dialectical Behavior Therapy curriculum for psychiatry residents.

She is the author of more than 200 articles and book chapters, author/editor of several volumes and served as editor-in-chief of the Archives of Suicide Research and on numerous editorial boards. She was a past chair and member of the American Psychological Association Committee on Human Research and served as a standing member of the Adult Psychopathology and Disorders of Aging NIH CSR study section.

Select Publications

1. Herzog S, Keilp JG, Galfalvy H, Mann JJ, Stanley BH. Attentional control deficits and suicidal ideation variability: An ecological momentary assessment study in major depression. J Affect Disord. 2023 Feb 15;323:819-825. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.053. Epub 2022 Dec 19. PMID: 36549341.

2. Bartlett EA, Zanderigo F, Stanley B, Choo TH, Galfalvy HC, Pantazatos SP, Sublette ME, Miller JM, Oquendo MA, Mann JJ. In vivo serotonin transporter and 1A receptor binding potential and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of stress in major depression and suicidal behavior. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2023 May;70:1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2023.01.006. Epub 2023 Feb 11. PMID: 36780841; PMCID: PMC10121874.

3. Herzog S, Choo TH, Galfalvy H, Mann JJ, Stanley BH. Effect of non-suicidal self-injury on suicidal ideation: real-time monitoring study. Br J Psychiatry. 2022 Aug;221(2):485-487. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2021.225. PMID: 35081996; PMCID: PMC9296595.

4. Stanley B, Martínez-Alés G, Gratch I, Rizk M, Galfalvy H, Choo TH, Mann JJ. Coping strategies that reduce suicidal ideation: An ecological momentary assessment study. J Psychiatr Res. 2021 Jan;133:32-37. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.12.012. Epub 2020 Dec 3. PMID: 33307352; PMCID: PMC8659118.

5. Stanley B, Itzhaky L, Oquendo MA. Identifying Neurobiological Underpinnings of Two Suicidal Subtypes. J Psychiatr Brain Sci. 2021;6(4):e210016. doi: 10.20900/jpbs.20210016. Epub 2021 Aug 31. PMID: 34926832; PMCID: PMC8681698.

6. Oquendo MA, Galfalvy HC, Choo TH, Kandlur R, Burke AK, Sublette ME, Miller JM, Mann JJ, Stanley BH. Highly variable suicidal ideation: a phenotypic marker for stress induced suicide risk. Mol Psychiatry. 2021 Sep;26(9):5079-5086. doi: 10.1038/s41380-020-0819-0. Epub 2020 Jun 23. PMID: 32576966; PMCID: PMC7755748.

7. Itzhaky L, Gratch I, Galfalvy H, Keilp JG, Burke AK, Oquendo MA, Mann JJ, Stanley BH. Psychosocial risk factors and outcomes associated with suicide attempts in childhood: A retrospective study. J Psychiatr Res. 2020 Jun;125:129-135. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.03.008. Epub 2020 Mar 18. PMID: 32278224; PMCID: PMC7217666.

8. Stanley B, Michel CA, Galfalvy HC, Keilp JG, Rizk MM, Richardson-Vejlgaard R, Oquendo MA, Mann JJ. Suicidal subtypes, stress responsivity and impulsive aggression. Psychiatry Res. 2019 Oct;280:112486. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112486. Epub 2019 Jul 16. PMID: 31376789; PMCID: PMC7027392.

9. Rizk MM, Choo TH, Galfalvy H, Biggs E, Brodsky BS, Oquendo MA, Mann JJ, Stanley B. Variability in Suicidal Ideation is Associated with Affective Instability in Suicide Attempters with Borderline Personality Disorder. Psychiatry. 2019 Summer;82(2):173-178. doi: 10.1080/00332747.2019.1600219. Epub 2019 Apr 23. PMID: 31013205; PMCID: PMC6554039.

10. Rizk MM, Galfalvy H, Singh T, Keilp JG, Sublette ME, Oquendo MA, Mann JJ, Stanley B. Toward subtyping of suicidality: Brief suicidal ideation is associated with greater stress response. J Affect Disord. 2018 Apr 1;230:87-92. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.01.012. PMID: 29407544; PMCID: PMC5811401.

11. Bernanke J, Galfalvy HC, Mortali MG, Hoffman LA, Moutier C, Nemeroff CB, Stanley BH, Clayton P, Harkavy-Friedman J, Oquendo MA. Suicidal ideation and behavior in institutions of higher learning: A latent class analysis. J Psychiatr Res. 2017 Dec;95:253-259. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.09.003. Epub 2017 Sep 9. PMID: 28923719; PMCID: PMC5826724.

12. Bernanke JA, Stanley BH, Oquendo MA. Toward fine-grained phenotyping of suicidal behavior: the role of suicidal subtypes. Mol Psychiatry. 2017 Aug;22(8):1080-1081. doi: 10.1038/mp.2017.123. Epub 2017 Jun 13. PMID: 28607457; PMCID: PMC5785781.