She got hands-on experience as an intern at a suicide crisis center in Buffalo, learned behavior therapy at SUNY Stony Brook and eventually landed at the University of Washington.

FORBES: The Woman Who Stops Patients From Killing Themselves

"I took my mother off it, " says David Brown, head of cardiology at SUNY Stony Brook Medical Center.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Evelyn Bromet, professor of psychiatry at SUNY Stony Brook, says the study's real value may be in the picture of mental health that emerges over time.

NPR: Mental Issues Surge, Suicide Rates Flat Post-Katrina