Tony Pisani

Prof. Tony Pisani is Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center, where he founded the PAIR Lab. He is also founder of SafeSide Prevention, an international organization providing workforce education and leadership consultation in suicide prevention across healthcare, military, and government settings in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Author of more than 45 peer-reviewed papers and host of the Never the Same podcast, his work spans research, education, and real-world implementation.

Prof. Tony Pisani has spent his career working to prevent suicide and promote wellbeing, combining research at the University of Rochester with practical implementation across healthcare, military, and community settings internationally. He is Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center, where he founded the PAIR Lab, focused on how AI technologies affect mental health and suicide risk. Author of more than 45 peer-reviewed papers and host of the Never the Same podcast, he also founded SafeSide Prevention, providing workforce education and leadership consultation in suicide prevention across the US, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Through The Klara Project, he works with faith communities to understand AI's impact on churches and society. His forthcoming book, Say Yes, Do More, argues that undercommitment is often as dangerous as overcommitment, and that many of the happiest lives are shaped by deep obligation, wholehearted engagement, and doing more rather than retreating into minimalism.

Prof. Tony Pisani, Ph.D., ABPP, has spent his career working to prevent suicide and promote wellbeing, combining research at the University of Rochester with practical implementation across healthcare, military, and community settings internationally. He is Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center, affiliated with the Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide. He founded the Personal AI and Robotics in Mental Health Laboratory (PAIR Lab), focused on how social dynamics between people and AI technologies affect mental health and suicide risk.

Tony founded SafeSide Prevention, an international organization that provides workforce education and leadership consultation in suicide prevention to health systems, military organizations, and governments across the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Through The Klara Project, a Christian nonprofit he founded, he works with faith communities to understand AI's impact on churches and society. He hosts Never the Same, a podcast exploring evolving ideas in mental health.

His research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Defense, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He has published more than 45 peer-reviewed articles in journals including JAMA Network Open, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Academic Psychiatry, and co-authored Suicide Prevention: Stahl's Handbooks (Cambridge University Press).

Tony has served on advisory boards for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, Crisis Text Line, The Jed Foundation, Stop Soldier Suicide, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He has contributed to national patient safety guidelines through The Joint Commission and provided expert testimony to the Royal Commission Into Defence and Veteran Suicide, Commonwealth of Australia. He currently chairs the Zero Suicide Workgroup of the New York State Suicide Prevention Council.

His forthcoming book, Say Yes, Do More, draws on behavioral activation research and his career in suicide prevention to argue that undercommitment is often a greater cultural danger than overcommitment, and that meaning grows through obligation, engagement, and contribution rather than minimalism and retreat. He is also an active investor through Zoviko Group, focused on acquiring and growing local businesses where AI can drive productivity gains. He brings a combination of research rigor, clinical expertise, and real-world implementation experience to one of the most consequential questions facing mental health leaders today.