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Department OfMedicine, Health, and Society

Kirsty A. Clark

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Health, and Society
Assistant Professor of Public Policy Studies; Assistant Professor of Psychology and Human Development

Dr. Kirsty A. Clark (she/her/hers) is a social and psychiatric epidemiologist. She serves as an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Health & Society with secondary appointments in Public Policy Studies and Psychology and Human Development. Dr. Clark also serves as an Associate Director of the Vanderbilt LGBTQ+ Policy Lab and as Director of the Clark Lab. Dr. Clark’s program of research focuses on studying biopsychosocial factors that potentiate or mitigate suicide risk among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) populations. Dr. Clark’s training background spans interdisciplinary fields of psychology, public health, and epidemiology, and her research profile reflects this interdisciplinary nature through rigorous qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research projects.

Dr. Clark's research has received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Public Health Association (APHA), Yale Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies, Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, and other funding agencies. She is currently PI of an NIMH-funded R01 award which aims to develop best practices for involving sexual and gender diverse preteens (9-12-year-olds) in suicide research as well as to measure and map trajectories of stigma-related stress and resilience across the developmentally sensitive preteen period. Previously, she served as PI of an NIMH-funded K01 award which used real-time digital assessment methods to capture associations between stigma-related stress and suicidal ideation intensity among LGBTQ+ adolescents and young adults. Dr. Clark has served as PI or co-I on numerous research grants focused on investigating the mental health of LGBTQ+ populations, many of which utilize novel research methodologies (e.g., ecological momentary assessment) to capture risk and resilience processes as they unfold in everyday life. A portion of her research also aims to investigate ways to improve the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity information in suicide mortality surveillance.

Dr. Clark’s first-authored research has been published in high-impact journals such as JAMA Pediatrics, Social Science & Medicine, Pediatrics, Annals of Epidemiology, and Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Her research has been reported on by CNN, US News & World Report, Newsweek, and many other national and international outlets. Dr. Clark completed a PhD in Epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, a Master of Public Health at Yale University, and a BA in Psychology at the University of Virginia. Additionally, she completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Yale LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative.

Specializations

 

  • LGBTQ health
  • Health disparities
  • Mental health
    • Suicide
  • Epidemiology
  • Public health

Representative Publications

Clark, K. A., Blosnich, J. R., Cyperski, M. A., Bettis, A. H., Mehari, K. R., Phillips, K., Headley, E., Clark, J., & Goldbach, J. T. (2026). Expert consensus on involving sexual and gender diverse preteens in suicide research: a Delphi study. BMC psychiatry, 26(1), 360.

Clark, K. A., Kellerman, J. K., Argiros, A. P., Phillips, K. L., Park, E. C., Cyperski, M., Pachankis, J. & Kleiman, E. (2024). Real-time exposure to negative news media and suicidal ideation intensity among LGBTQ+ young adults. JAMA Pediatrics. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3133

Clark, K. A., Pachankis, J. E., Dougherty, L. R., Katz, B. A., Hill, K. E., Klein, D. N., & Kujawa, A. (2024). Adolescents’ sexual orientation and behavioral and neural reactivity to peer acceptance and rejection: The moderating role of family support. Clinical Psychological Science, 12(1), 115-132.

Clark, K. A., Schafer, K., Tran, N. M., Trautman, L., & McKay, T. (2023). The role of sleep duration in suicide risk among sexual and gender minority adolescents. Preventive Medicine, 175, 107698.

Clark, K. A., & Blosnich, J. R. (2023). Sexual orientation and disclosure of suicidal thoughts before suicide mortality. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 65(6), 953-963.

Clark, K., Salway, T., McConocha, E. & Pachankis, J. How do sexual and gender minority people acquire the capability for suicide?: Voices from survivors of near-fatal suicide attempts. Social Science & Medicine – Qualitative Research in Health. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmqr.2022.100044. Online first ahead of print.

Clark, K. A., Hatzenbuehler, M. L., Bränström, R., & Pachankis, J. E. (2022). Sexual orientation-related patterns of 12-month course and severity of suicidality in a longitudinal, population-based cohort of young adults in Sweden. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 57(9), 1931-1934.

Clark, K. A., Harvey, T. D., Hughto, J. M., & Meyer, I. H. (2022). Mental health among sexual and gender minority youth incarcerated in juvenile corrections. Pediatrics, 150(6).

Clark, K. A., Mays, V. M., Arah, O. A., Kheifets, L. I., & Cochran, S. D. (2022). Sexual orientation differences in lethal methods used in suicide: Findings from the National Violent Death Reporting System. Archives of suicide research, 26(2), 548-564.

Clark, K., Björkenstam, C., Kosidou, K. & Björkenstam, E. (2021) Psychological distress, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt among lesbian, gay and bisexual immigrants: Population-based findings from the Stockholm Public Health Cohort. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 50(8), 3563-3574.

Clark, K. A., Cochran, S. D., Maiolatesi, A. J., & Pachankis, J. E. (2020). Prevalence of bullying among youth classified as LGBTQ who died by suicide as reported in the National Violent Death Reporting System, 2003-2017. JAMA Pediatrics, 174(12), 1211-1213.

Clark, K. A., Mennies, R. J., Olino, T. M., Dougherty, L. R., & Pachankis, J. E. (2020). Parent versus child report of children’s sexual orientation: associations with psychiatric morbidity in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study. Annals of Epidemiology, 45, 1-4.