Ep. 17: Cultivating "Broader, Better Human Beings" with Janis Whitlock, Cornell University

In this episode we hear from Janis Whitock, director of the Youth Risk and Opportunity Lab in the Bronfenbrenner Center at Cornell University. She and Karl talk about how she unexpectedly began to study self-injury in youth, and how that focus has widened to examine the risks youth face in their transition to adulthood. Dr. Whitlock also discusses how to best communicate with policymakers and practitioners, among other topics. Janis Whitlock is a research scientist in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research. She is also the director of the Cornell Youth Risk and Opportunity Lab. She is the author of publications on non-suicidal self-injury in adolescence and young adulthood, social media and mental health, and in youth connectedness to schools and communities. She earned a doctorate in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University (2003), a Masters of Public Health from UNC Chapel Hill (1994), and a BA from the University of California at Berkeley (1988). Her current primary research focus includes development of early detection and intervention in mental health and wellbeing using social media and other technological affordances, particularly in the areas of self-injury and suicide. She is also a principal investigator for an early intervention project aimed at reducing sexual violence and is pursuing a newer line of research related to sexual health and development in the digital age. She is dedicated to translating research into practice and policy through broad dissemination of user friendly materials and through development of web-based training and education programs for parents and professionals (see www.selfinjury.bctr.cornell.edu), largely as an outgrowth of her work as a practitioner in adolescent and women’s health in a variety of clinical, administrative, and education-related capacities for over a decade.