Janis Whitlock is a research scientist emerita in the BCTR. A developmental psychologist and public health specialist, she specializes in advancing understanding of and support for adolescent and young adult mental health and wellbeing.
She is the founder and director of the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injury and Recovery (CRPSIR), a program initiated in 2004 to explore non-suicidal self-injury. In 2006, with the support of several BCTR colleagues, she convened the first meeting of what is now the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury (ISSS) and subsequently served as its first president and the 2022 ISSS faculty fellow.
Whitlock has conducted research and provided community-based consultation in areas related to social media and mental health, suicide prevention, sexual violence prevention, and adolescent school and community connectedness and resilience. She is the author of over 50 publications and author of the book, “Healing self-injury: A compassionate guide for parents and other loved ones.”
In 2019, Dr. Whitlock was awarded the Francqui International Professor fellowship, a prize that supported a multi-month stay in Belgium at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Dr. Whitlock currently lives in Boulder, Colorado where she provides consultation for organizations, school systems, and communities dedicated to enhancing youth-focused mental health supports and resources. In addition to serving as co-editor for an Oxford Handbook on non-suicidal self-injury slated for publication in 2023, she continues to speak and write on contemporary challenges and opportunities in her areas of expertise.
