Professor Jennie Noll

What’s it going to take to align research, policy, and public investment to impact rates of child sexual abuse at the population level? Tales from a success story.

When to watch:
13th May | 10:00 - 11:00


Keynote Abstract

Worldwide 18% of females and 14% of males experience sexual violence against children (SVAC) and prevalence rates have stagnated since the 1990s. Even as SVAC incurs astounding public costs and grave health consequences, few overarching policies exist that allocate resources toward viable solutions. Missing from extant discourse is adequate evidence from which to implore large public investment in SVAC primary prevention. Especially damning, have been national taskforce reports calling out prevention efforts as “insufficient” to impact prevalence rates. One exception is a recent controlled trial of a multisector approach in the US state of Pennsylvania (PA) where population-level SVAC rates significantly declined. The design, implementation, and evaluation of this research will be discussed, as will an empirical model of research-to-policy collaboration that spurred major, subsequent policy change. In these uncertain times of collapsing infrastructures and dwindling assets, such efforts provide hope and empowerment as we coalesce around policy and practice reform to benefit survivors and keep children safe through sustained public mobilization.

Biography

Jennie G. Noll, PhD is Professor of Psychology and Executive Director of the Mt. Hope Family Center at the University of Rochester, New Youk, USA. She is an internationally recognized, leading scientist in the fields of childhood maltreatment and stress resilience with research awards from the National Institutes of Health (N(H) totaling over $40M including 2 national centers of excellence. Her primary research foci include: the long-term adverse health outcomes of child abuse and neglect, models of resilience and neurobiological reversibility, the impact of online and social media behaviors on teen development, and the primary prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. Results from Dr. Noll's research are published in high-impact journals such as Nature and JAMA and have informed public policy recommendations for child abuse prevention and treatment by joint-state government commissions, the Institute of Medicine, and the U.S. Congress. Dr. Noll supports local, state, and federal policymakers in their use of cutting-edge science to leverage large public investment in the prevention of child abuse and improving outcomes for survivors. In 2025, Dr. Noll was awarded the Gold Medal Award for Impact on the Field of Psychology—the highest honor bestowed by the American Psychological Association. Back to Keynotes