Ashley A Knapp

Ashley A Knapp, PhD is an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine with triple appointments in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical Social Sciences (Implementation Science), and Preventive Medicine (Behavioral Medicine). Her research focuses on digital mental health interventions for adolescent anxiety prevention.

Education:

• MA: University of Arkansas (2014)
• PhD: University of Arkansas (2016)
• Postdoctoral Fellow: Dartmouth College, Geisel School of Medicine, Science of Co-Occurring Disorders (2018)
• Postdoctoral Fellow: Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Digital Mental Health (2019)

Dr. Knapp leverages emerging technologies to study adolescent anxiety vulnerability and develop prevention programs for underserved youth. Her NIMH-funded K01 award focuses on digital tools for extending mental health interventions to community settings, building on her NIMH F31-funded doctoral work developing anxiety "preinterventions." Her research bridges implementation science, developmental psychopathology, and digital health technology.

Her recent publications reveal strong trends in community-based digital mental health implementation, adolescent-focused intervention design, and leveraging non-clinical settings (like public libraries) for mental health service delivery. Work consistently emphasizes health equity and accessibility for underserved youth populations.

Scientific Awards:

• Dr. Virginia Bishop Community-Academic Research Partnership Award (2023)
• Implementation Research Institute Fellow (2023)
• Randomized Behavioral Clinical Trials Summer Institute Fellow (2022)
• Early Career Preventionist Network Travel Award (2022)
• 2021 Service to Society for Prevention Research Award

Dr. Knapp serves as Ambassador for The OpEd Project and chairs the Technology and Behavioral Change SIG at ABCT. She holds editorial board membership at JMIR Mental Health and actively reviews for major behavioral science conferences. Her professional service emphasizes health equity in digital mental health through co-chairing the Health Equity SIG at the Society for Digital Mental Health.

She leads the Youth Digital Mental Health Lab (ydmhlab) with research spanning developmental psychopathology, digital intervention design, and community implementation science, focusing on anxiety prevention in adolescents through technology-enhanced approaches.