OCTOBER 9, 2026
Kaylee Kruzan, PhD, LCSW
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Preventive Medicine
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
About the Presentation: Most young people who self-injure never seek treatment, yet many turn to the internet for help. This talk presents an NIMH-funded research program designed to close this gap by developing and implementing digital interventions for adolescents and young adults who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). In partnership with Mental Health America, the nation’s largest mental health nonprofit, we co-designed these interventions for delivery on its website, which reaches millions of people each year. I will share lessons from our design and usability testing, results from a randomized controlled trial, and our development of an NSSI screener to connect visitors directly to care. The talk will close with future directions for delivering highly personalized interventions to this population through community-based organizations like MHA.
About the Presenter: Kaylee Kruzan, PhD, LCSW, is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she is core faculty in the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITs) and affiliate faculty in the Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design. A digital mental health researcher with expertise in human-centered design, she develops, evaluates, and implements digital interventions for people who are underrepresented in traditional treatment, including young people who engage in self-harm. Her work is guided by a simple principle: meet people where they already are. That means implementing interventions through community-based organizations that people already trust, and in the online spaces where many young people who self-injure first look for information and support, often long before seeking formal care.