Co-Director, Chair of Health Promotions Subcommittee

Dr. Biddle’s passion for suicide prevention arose out of the death of her 16 year old nephew by suicide while she was an undergraduate nursing student. Out of this tragedy arose a passion for suicide prevention, a passion that guides her clinical and research careers today. While she was a graduate nursing student at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Biddle implemented a psychoeducational suicide prevention and risk assessment training program for faculty, staff, and resident advisors across the university. For over a decade she has conducted seminars for undergraduate and graduate nursing students and advanced practice nurses concerning youth suicide risk assessment. Dr. Biddle’s dissertation focused on educational outcomes of suicidal public high school students who participated in Pennsylvania’s Student Assistance Program. She is currently testing a psychoeducational faith-based intervention, referred to as the “psychospiritual resilience booster”, which is geared to promoting resilience among adolescents and young adults and preventing suicide. Dr. Biddle also provides psychiatric/mental health services, including psychotherapy and medication management, for students who attend Thomas Jefferson University’s Medical College and School of Health Professions.