Hi! My name is Campbell Martinez and I am a rising senior at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in Psychology. I am so excited and grateful to be doing independent research this summer as a part of the Brackenridge fellowship! For my project I am focusing on suicidal adolescents (specifically LGBTQ+ adolescents and adolescents of color) who have experienced cyberbullying. Specifically, I will be performing qualitative analysis on interviews with a cohort of these teens and identify common themes in their experiences, and what they found helpful in their individual experiences.

Guiding me through this research are my mentors Dr. Candice Biernesser from the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry and Dr. Jamie Zelazny from the School of Nursing. Both have vital experience in suicide prevention and suicide prevention research. On top of qualitative analysis work, I also have the opportunity to shadow and observe study visits and clinical assessments with joint organizations and endeavors within the University of Pittsburgh Psychiatry Department.

I am beyond thrilled and grateful to get to work on this project, not only because of the wonderful educational and career opportunity it is, but because it allows me to work on something I feel so passionately about: suicide prevention geared toward marginalized youth. Youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth experiences have for a long time been left out of the narrative of mental health, despite suffering in high rates, and experiencing unique struggles. I hope through this project I can identify common themes in their experiences and how they coped with them, as well as bring light to marginalized youth experiences.

This research also allows me to try and narrow down some of my goals, and hone in on specific passions and ambitions. I ultimately want to pursue an MD-PHD, with a plan of focusing on pediatric and adolescent psychiatry. Through this experience, I hope to gain a better understanding of the clinical and research aspects of adolescent suicide prevention, and be exposed to many different areas of the psychological field.

I also hope through this fellowship in general I will be able to connect with a wonderful community of passionate scholars. I hope to gain guidance not only from faculty, but also fellow students, in navigating post graduate work and education. I also hope to learn other perspectives and ideas of what it means to be a researcher, clinician, scholar, etc., as well as how to most effectively communicate my research and ideas with others.