Mental Health Australia and the Australian National University were pleased to award Dominique Kazan (pictured here with Frank Quinlan and Zahrah Roush) the Grace Groom Memorial Scholarship for 2016. The scholarship was established by Mental Health Australia from a donation made by the Groom family in memory of Dr Grace Groom, a former Chief Executive Officer of Mental Health Australia. Grace was tireless advocate for mental health in Australia.

Dominque’s research aims to investigate the impact and influence of intimate partner relationships on suicidality, specifically how relationship separation contributes to suicidality.  The primary objective is to create an intervention that will support people who have recently experienced a relationship separation and are at risk of developing suicidal thoughts and/or behaviours. It is hoped that this project will continue to promote conversation around the issue of suicide and bring to light the very real lived experience of people undergoing relationship problems and separation and the effect on mental health.