John Blosnich

About

John R. Blosnich is an associate professor and director of the Center for LGBTQ+ Health Equity at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. His primary area of expertise is disparities in suicide risk and prevention among high-risk populations, with a specific emphasis on social determinants of health. Prior to joining USC, Blosnich spent nine years working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, where he led foundational research on transgender veterans’ health and healthcare utilization, focusing on suicide risk, mortality, and social determinants. He has garnered awards including the VA’s first research award focused on transgender veterans and has served on national VA committees developing guidance, clinical education, and training for high-risk veteran subgroups. His research also addresses the lack of sexual orientation and gender identity data in mortality surveillance, and he is a 2021 NIH New Innovator Award recipient, leading research into non-clinical suicide prevention in partnership with community-based professionals. His work aims to move research from prevalence to prevention, particularly among sexual and gender minority populations.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Clinical psychology
• Environmental health
• Psychology
• Internal medicine
• Psychotherapist
• Demography
• Psychiatry
• Gerontology
• Philosophy

Selected publications

• Gender Differences in Lifetime Prevalence and Onset Timing of Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempt Among Post-9/11 Veterans and Nonveterans

  Medical Care · 2021 · 63 citations

  BACKGROUND: Rising US suicide rates are particularly notable among military veterans, especially women. It is unknown whether these differences extend to suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempts (SA), which are major predictors of suicide. Literature comparing SI and SA prevalence and timing of onset between veterans and nonveterans is limited. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to estimate and compare SI and SA prevalence and onset timing relative to age and military service between…

  DOI

• Questions of faith: Religious affiliations and suicidal ideation among sexual minority young adults

  Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior · 2020 · 21 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  OBJECTIVE: To examine how the associations of specific religious affiliations with recent suicidal ideation vary by sexual orientation among young adults. METHOD: This project was a cross-sectional secondary analysis of data from the 2006 and 2011 surveys of the National Research Consortium of Counseling Centers in Higher Education. The analytic sample was restricted to persons between the ages of 18-29 (n = 40,150). Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations of reli…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mortality among sexual and gender minority populations: A systematic review

  PLoS ONE · 2025-02-03 · 10 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations experience elevated rates of negative health outcomes (e.g., suicidality) and social determinants (e.g., poverty), which have been associated with general population mortality risk. Despite evidence of disparities in threats to well-being, it remains unclear whether SGM individuals have greater risk of mortality. This systematic review synthesized evidence on mortality among studies that included information about SGM. Three independent coders examine…

  PublisherDOI

• Re-evaluating national suicide prevention month: strategic timing and enhanced impact

  Critical Public Health · 2025-06-24 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Awareness months are used as promotion strategies to enhance public health through increasing knowledge and behavioral change, including suicide prevention. However, given epidemiologic evidence and the historical impact of awareness months on health behaviors, the purpose of this paper is to encourage reconsideration of the current timing of suicide prevention month. In the U.S., most suicide deaths occur in May. The original National Suicide Prevention Week was established in May 1974 by the A…

  PublisherDOI

• Lethal Means Among Veterans With Recent Experience of Housing Instability by Age

  American Journal of Preventive Medicine · 2025-01-28 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Patterns of Alcohol Use and Alcohol-Related Care Among Transgender Persons

  NIH · $438k · 2018–2021

• Health Outcomes and Healthcare Use Among Transgender Veterans

  NIH · 2016–2021

• Shifting Suicide Prevention Paradigms: Looking Beyond Clinical Settings

  NIH · $2.4M · 2021–2026

Frequent coauthors

• Jillian C. Shipherd

  Boston University

  189 shared

• Michael R. Kauth

  Baylor College of Medicine

  141 shared

• Ann Elizabeth Montgomery

  University of Alabama at Birmingham

  94 shared

• Adam J. Gordon

  VA Portland Health Care System

  82 shared

• Dawne Vogt

  VA Boston Healthcare System

  60 shared

• Robert M. Bossarte

  University of South Florida

  59 shared

• Melissa E. Dichter

  Temple University

  58 shared

• Emily C. Williams

  VA Puget Sound Health Care System

  56 shared

Labs

• Center for LGBTQ+ Health Equity at USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social WorkPI

Awards & honors

• 2024, Monica Helms & Angela B. Sheedy Transgender and Gender…
• 2018, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs I CARE Award for O…
• 2017, Federal Executive Board Silver Award for Outstanding C…

Similar researchers at University of Southern California

• Carl A. Castroh-55
• John D. Clapph-40
• Benjamin Henwoodh-36