Young people often turn to social media when they are struggling. Colin Jarratt, a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, believes that online words can reveal hidden distress. He is using his expertise to build a new tool called ALERTS to help identify these signals.

ALERTS is a special computer model designed to detect suicide-related language in public online posts about alcohol. This work is critical because suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 25. While many young people discuss their mental health online, we currently lack tools to spot the specific warning signs in those digital spaces.

Colin is working to bridge that gap. He will use this grant to fund the cloud computing and software needed to build and test his system. His goal is to identify risk patterns early so that future outreach efforts can happen before a crisis occurs.

With support from Hunter’s Fund, Colin can develop this vital technology. He is turning complex data into a digital safety net, ensuring that a cry for help online does not go unanswered.