Holly Wilcox Receives AFSP’s 2026 Annual Research Award

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) has recognized Dr. Holly Wilcox, Director and founder of the Johns Hopkins Center for Suicide Prevention, with its 2026 Annual Research Award. AFSP announced the honor on March 10, 2026, and presented its research awards this spring in New York City alongside its 37th Annual Lifesavers Gala.

About the award

AFSP research award recipients are nominated and selected by the AFSP Scientific Council. According to AFSP, the Annual Research Award "is intended for a researcher or group of researchers who have completed significant research to advance a specific area of suicide prevention." Honorees are invited to present their work at AFSP's Research Awards Dinner.

This year, AFSP also honored Dr. Jane Pearson, Special Advisor to the Director for Suicide Research at the National Institute of Mental Health and an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins, with its Lifetime Research Award.

A public health approach

In announcing the award, AFSP noted that Dr. Wilcox "uses research to advance public health approaches to suicide prevention, including policies, early intervention, and developing continuous, connected systems of support."

That description captures the idea at the heart of the Center's work. Suicide is not only a matter of individual crisis. It is shaped by the systems, policies and communities around people, and those are places where prevention can reach many people at once.

A Professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Dr. Wilcox teaches the course "Suicide as a Public Health Problem." She helped establish a multidisciplinary research group on suicide prevention at Johns Hopkins, and she is the founding director of the Center.

Leadership in the field

Dr. Wilcox's work extends well beyond Johns Hopkins. She serves as President of the International Academy of Suicide Research, sits on AFSP's Scientific Council, and co-chairs the Suicide Prevention Task Group of the National Network of Depression Centers.

Shared credit

Research of this kind depends on many people: colleagues, students and postdocs, community collaborators, and the families and individuals who take part in studies. The Center congratulates Dr. Wilcox and thanks everyone whose work this recognition reflects.