Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D., ABPP

Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D., ABPP

Chief Science Officer of the American Psychological Association and the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D., ABPP is the Chief Science Officer of the American Psychological Association, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill he serves as the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, and the Co-Director of the Winston National Center on Technology Use, Brain, and Psychological Development.

For over 25 years, and with continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health, Prinstein’s research has examined interpersonal models of internalizing symptoms and health risk behaviors among adolescents, with a specific focus on the unique role of off- and on-line peer relationships in the developmental psychopathology of depression and self-injury. At the APA, he is responsible for leading the association’s science agenda and advocating for the application of psychological research and knowledge in settings including academia, government, industry, and the law.

Prior to APA and UNC, Prinstein served as the Director of Clinical Psychology at UNC and Yale University. He is a board-certified clinical psychologist and scientist who has been studying child and adolescent mental health, publishing over 200 scientific manuscripts and 12 books. He is regularly featured as an expert in psychological science in consultation to government agencies and non-profit associations, as a witness testifying before the US Senate, in two TedX talks, and within hundreds of media appearances around the world in outlets such as The New York Times, NPR, the Times (UK), and CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC.