Heidi Hjelmeland

Heidi Hjelmeland is professor at the Department of Mental Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. As a suicide researcher since 1992, she has participated in or led several multicenter studies in Europe and Africa. She has published on various aspects of suicidal behavior, such as epidemiology, attitudes, intentionality, meaning, communication, gender and culture, as well as on theoretical and methodological issues. She is currently engaged in research projects in Norway, Ghana, and Uganda, and is especially focusing on cultural/contextual aspects of suicidality. She is also researching suicide research itself in the framework of critical suicidology. She established and led the Regional Resource Center for Suicide Research and Prevention in Central Norway from 1997 through 2003, and was there responsible for the implementation of the first Norwegian suicide prevention action plan in the region. She was Vice President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) in the period 2007-2011. She is a member of the Editorial Board of Crisis – The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention (since 2004 to date), and was Co-Editor of Suicidology Online (2010-2014), and a member of the Editorial Board of Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior (2004-2015).