Matthew K. Nock, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Laboratory for Clinical and Developmental Research in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Nock’s research is aimed at advancing the understanding why people behave in ways that are harmful to themselves, with an emphasis on suicide and other forms of self-harm. His research is multi-disciplinary in nature and uses a range of methodological approaches (e.g., epidemiological surveys, laboratory-based experiments, and clinic-based studies) to better understand how these behaviors develop, how to predict them, and how to prevent their occurrence. This work is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and several private foundations, and has been published in over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles that have been cited over 60,000 times. Nock’s work has been recognized through the receipt of four early career awards from the American Psychological Association, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and the American Association of Suicidology; and in 2011 he was named a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow.

This profile was last updated on November 28, 2023

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