Suicide has become a growing social and public health concern around the world. Globally, suicide is the leading cause of death among women aged 15 to 19 (the male death toll is 2.6 times that of females) and the second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 24 (after traffic accidents). Professor Kuang Li and her research team from the Department of Psychiatry at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University have dedicated themselves to mood disorders and suicide research since 2003. To enhance exchanges of international clinical experience and promote the research of suicide etiology, epidemics, and crisis intervention of suicide in China, the International Summit on Mood Disorders and Suicide has been held every two years for three consecutive sessions since 2014. Attending the Summit were well-known experts from the Karolinska Institute (a renowned medical university in Sweden and home to the Nobel Assembly which awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine), Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, South Korea, and other countries, as well as experts from China. Participants were engaged in in-depth discussions on hot topics and challenges associated with basic and clinical research on suicide, early screening of suicide, Big Data information management, and technologies related to Artificial Intelligence-based early warning, crisis intervention, etc. The Summit has established an international exchange platform for research on mood disorders and suicide, early intervention, and prevention in China.
