Caroline Oppenheimer

Caroline Oppenheimer is a Suicide Prevention Research Scientist at RTI who studies the development of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in children, adolescents, and emerging adulthood. In particular, Dr. Oppenheimer is interested in the role of social rejection in suicide risk. Her recent work has focused on measuring teen brain response to peer feedback on social media. In collaboration with researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Oppenheimer is developing tasks that can be used in the MRI scanner that simulates a social media website experience. This task helps researchers understand individual differences in response to specific aspects of social media use and suicide risk among youth. In addition, Dr. Oppenheimer works to assess how pain may modulate neural response to peer rejection among young adults who engage in self-harm.

Before joining RTI, Dr. Oppenheimer worked as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh.