Suicide of Jason Altom

Jason Altom (6 October 1971 – 15 August 1998) was an American PhD student working in the research group of Nobel laureate Elias James Corey at Harvard University. He killed himself by taking potassium cyanide in 1998, citing in his suicide note "abusive research supervisors" as one reason for taking his life. Altom was studying a complex natural product and felt enormous pressure to finish the molecule before starting his academic career.

Altom's suicide highlighted the pressures on PhD students, problems of isolation in graduate school, and sources of tension between graduate mentors and their students. His case prompted many US universities to insist that PhD students have an advisory committee in addition to a supervisor, to whom they might turn for support: James Anderson, who became Harvard Chemistry Department Chairman, stated that "Jason's death prompted an examination of the role the department should play in graduate students' lives". Anderson went on to promise that students will also have "confidential and seamless access" to psychological counselling services, paid for by the department. Harvard students have access to "as many visits as medically necessary" for mental health services if seen at University health services (unless they opt out of the Student Health Fee ), and up to 52 visits per plan year when enrolling in the Student Health Insurance Plan. As part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Harvard Graduate Students Union and the university's administration, a fund was created to reimburse members "of any copays and other out-of-pocket medical expenses" incurred under the Student Health Insurance Plan; in 2024, it holds $530,000. The collective bargaining agreement also forces the university administration to disclose mental health resources to the union.

The molecule whose synthesis Altom was attempting to complete, aspidophytine, was subsequently completed by postdoctoral research associates and published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1999. The article was dedicated to Altom's memory.