Tremendous advances in science and technology have enabled greater understanding of the brain, yet mental health care remains inaccessible and inadequate for much of the world’s population.
McLean Hospital’s Institute for Technology in Psychiatry (ITP) brings together thought leaders in health care, data science, technology, industry, patient advocacy, academic research, and more for this two-day summit to build on the promise of technology in the diagnosis and delivery of mental health care.
This event is targeted at an inclusive group of academics, data scientists, clinicians, technology developers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, patient advocates, and health professionals who are interested in shaping the future of mental health care.
The ITP partners with like-minded organizations looking to integrate technology into the field of psychiatry to improve research and care. If you are interested in affiliating your brand with the Technology in Psychiatry Summit, please contact the ITP.
2018 Summit
The 2018 Technology in Psychiatry Summit: Closing Gaps in Translation will be held on November 1-2, 2018 at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School.
Join the foremost leaders in the fields of health care, technology, psychiatry, and neuroscience to begin an open dialogue that will help us collaboratively shape the future of mental health care and research.
This year’s summit will expand on the themes of the 2017 Summit and continue to focus on the question of how technology can increase the access and reach of mental health care services. This year's theme is “Translation,” both in the sense of using technology and pervasive sensing approaches to advance the detailed cross-species study of behavior in order to help bridge the human-nonhuman translational gap, as well as applying these approaches to improve mental health in under-resourced areas, both globally and in the US (i.e., developing robust cross-cultural models of mental illness and culturally-tailored therapeutics).
2018 panels include:
Technology to Empower Cross-Cultural Care Models
Technology is already narrowing gaps in our ability to translate mental health care strategies across global and local contexts, sometimes taking successes from the developing world and applying them in under-resourced areas in First and Second World regions.
Technology to Advance Animal-Human Translational Science
As we struggle to translate findings in animals into humans with neuropsychiatric conditions, technology and informatics are providing new ways to link brain and behavior that could transform the discovery and therapeutic pipeline.
Sponsors
McLean’s Institute for Technology in Psychiatry wishes to thank the sponsors of the Technology in Psychiatry Summit, including our 2017 sponsors below. Our initiative to build a more accessible future couldn’t happen without their support.
For more information on sponsoring the 2018 Technology in Psychiatry Summit, please contact Sue DeMarco at 617.855.3451.
Dr. Rauch is president, psychiatrist in chief, and Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Chair of Psychiatry at McLean Hospital. He is also professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School as well as chair of Psychiatry and Mental Health for Partners Healthcare. His principal research interests relate to neuroimaging and the neurobiology of affective disorders. Dr. Rauch and colleagues have been leaders in delineating the neurocircuitry of anxiety disorders as well as pioneers in using modern technology, including brain stimulation, neurosurgery, and internet-based methods, to develop novel treatments for anxiety and mood disorders.
Keynote: Sarah H. Lisanby, MD, Director, Division of Translational Research, National Institute of Mental Health
Dr. Lisanby is the director of the Division of Translational Research and director of the Noninvasive Neuromodulation Unit at NIMH. Her division supports research to accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into preventions, treatments, and cures for mental illness, and her individual research focuses on neurostimulation devices and mental illness treatments.
Dr. Picard is the founder and director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the MIT Media Lab, co-director of the Media Lab’s Advancing Wellbeing Initiative, faculty chair of MIT’s MindHandHeart Initiative, and co-founder of Empatica, Inc. (creating wearable sensors and analytics for health improvement) and Affectiva Inc. (technology that measures and communicates emotion). Her inventions apply to a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders and human-computer interaction.
Dr. Insel is a neuroscientist and psychiatrist, and is the current president and co-founder of Mindstrong Health. He was formerly the director of the NIMH from 2002-2015, and more recently led the mental health division of Verily Life Sciences from 2015-2017.
Dr. Ressler is chief scientific officer and James and Patricia Poitras Chair in Psychiatry at McLean Hospital, after serving at Emory University for 18 years. He is also a professor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and current president of the Society for Biological Psychiatry. Dr. Ressler’s lab focuses on translational research bridging molecular neurobiology in animal models with human genetic research on emotion, particularly fear and anxiety disorders.
Connecting with Technology: Why Psychiatry Needs Data Science
Advances in technology are creating almost limitless potential sources of data for understanding health and human behavior. This panel will focus on how we can take advantage of some of these data sources in the clinic and in the research laboratory using modern data analytic and machine learning approaches to generate insights and improve clinical care.
Speakers:
Justin T. Baker MD, PhD, Scientific Director, Institute for Technology in Psychiatry, McLean Hospital
Susan A. Murphy, PhD, Professor of Statistics, Harvard University
John Torous, MD, Co-Director, Digital Psychiatry Program, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Moderator: Carol Vallone, Trustee, McLean Hospital
Data Blitz
Innovators in academia, medicine, and technology deliver brief talks on cutting-edge topics.
Digital Diagnostics: Leveraging Technology to Enhance Mental Health Assessment
Recent advances in computing now allow us to measure aspects of behavior and physiology that would not have been feasible even a handful of years ago. This panel will showcase examples of cutting-edge tools for understanding the brain and behavior that are low cost and scalable, towards a future of “digital diagnostics” that can be leveraged to increase the accessibility and impact of mental health services.
Speakers:
Armen C. Arevian, MD, PhD, Director, Innovation Lab, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
Louis-Philippe Morency, PhD, Faculty, Carnegie Mellon University Language Technology Institute
Andrea Webb, PhD, Group Leader, Psychophysiologist, Draper Laboratories
Satra Ghosh, PhD, Principal Research Scientist, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT
Moderator: Alik Widge, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Massachusetts General Hospital
Technological and social advancements are changing the way science is conducted. Methods for remote data collection, collaboration, and data sharing have led to new approaches to mental health research that transcend geographical and institutional boundaries. This panel will discuss how we might conceptualize a laboratory of the future to lead us to a better understanding of mental health, the brain, and behavior.
Speakers:
Laura Germine PhD, Assistant Director, Institute for Technology in Psychiatry, McLean Hospital; Director, The Many Brains Project
Lara Mangravite, PhD, President, Sage Bionetworks
Matthew K. Nock, PhD, Director, Laboratory for Clinical and Developmental Research, Harvard University
Jukka-Pekka Onnela PhD, Associate Professor of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Digital Technology in Practice: Applications in Geriatric Health
The implications of a rapidly growing population of older adults on health care costs, housing, and public policy are well-recognized. The world of aging is at the forefront of innovation in the use of technologies to support independent living, maximized functioning, and improvements in cost, efficiency, and personalization of clinical care. This session will focus on exploring how the worlds of aging, technology and mental health can intersect and what might be the most fruitful areas to explore within this domain.
Speakers:
Jason Hassenstab, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Psychology, Washington University School of Medicine
Dilip V. Jeste, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Healthy Aging and Senior Care, University of California, San Diego
Sarah Lenz Lock, PhD, Senior Vice President for Policy, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
From Insights to Actions: Strategies for Care Transformation
Digital technologies have the potential to transform mental health care, particularly among groups that have traditionally been hard to reach due to lack of access, education, or resources. In this session, leading experts in technology, policy, and public health will discuss how we might take the insights generated from clinical and basic research and translate them to improvements in care and access to care. Discussion will focus on how to address the gap between the availability of mental health services and the pressing need for such services globally.
Speakers:
Ken Duckworth, MD, Medical Director, Behavioral Health, BCBS Massachusetts
Oliver Harrison, MD, MPH, Chief Executive, Alpha Health, Telefonica Innovation
Kimberlyn Leary, PhD, MPA, Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Executive Director, Policy Outreach, McLean Hospital
Large-scale adoption of effective digital health technologies will depend on coming up with appropriate social and technical infrastructure. At the core of this infrastructure is the need to balance privacy and security with transparency, openness, sharing, and the rights of individuals to own and make decisions about their own health and health data. In this session, leaders in privacy, access, and ethics will discuss the biggest challenges and potential ways forward in building a future where effective technologies work for society and individuals.
Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the US—43.8 million, or 18.5%—experiences mental illness in a given year. (NAMI)
High income nations, on average, spend 5% of total health spending on mental health; for lower middle-income countries the figure is less than 2%. (WHO report)
Mental health workers account for only 1% of the global health workforce and 45% of the world’s population lives in a country with less than one psychiatrist per 100,000 people. (APA report)
Digital Technology Overview
Nearly nine-in-ten Americans today are online, up from about half in the early 2000s. (Pew Research Center)
It was only 68% ownership in 2015 and 35% in 2011 (Pew 2015)
Today just over one-in-ten American adults are “smartphone-only” internet users—meaning they own a smartphone, but do not have traditional home broadband service. (Pew Research Center)
90% of the individuals in this survey (NAMI survey, plus academic source) owned more than one digital device such as a personal computer, tablet, or smartphone. 54% had access to smartphones compared to 64% of all Americans. Many survey respondents use their devices to cope with mental illness:
42% by blocking or managing auditory hallucinations with music or audio files
38% for health information on the internet
37% for calendar reminders
32% for transportation and map needs
28% for medication management
26% for supporting others
26% for developing relationships with other persons with schizophrenia
25% for monitoring symptoms
24% for identifying coping strategies
Digital Tech in Mental Illness (Overall)
Most (72%-97%) patients with mental illness have reported the use of mobile phones for activities other than spoken conversations such as sending emails, web browsing, and social networking. (National Medical Journal of India)
Individuals with severe mental illness: “93% owned cellphones, 78% used text messaging, 50% owned smartphones, and 71% used social media such as Facebook.” (Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal)
“The global telehealth market is expected to be worth US$ 34.27 billion by the end of 2020, with North America being the largest market globally accounting for more than 40% of the global market size.” (HITconsultant)
“Three in five Americans are open to virtual support service options (e.g., video conference calls) with pharmaceutical companies to help them understand medications. This is especially true with millennials, as 70% want to leverage these modern technologies to communicate with their drug providers.” (Salesforce 2017 Connected Patient Report)
“Nearly three in four Americans (72%) say it’s important that their health insurance providers use modern tools—such as live chat/instant message and two-way video—when communicating with them.” (Salesforce 2017 Connected Patient Report)
“A majority of Americans currently communicate with their doctors via traditional channels to schedule appointments, with 80% using the phone.” (Salesforce 2017 Connected Patient Report)
Access to Care and Pressing Need
Insurance companies: “Millennials are more than three times as likely than baby boomers (26% vs. 7%) to use their insurance companies to find health care providers.” (Salesforce 2017 Connected Pt Report)
Serious mental illness costs America $193.2 billion in lost earnings per year. (NAMI)
Mood disorders, including major depression, dysthymic disorder and bipolar disorder, are the third most common cause of hospitalization in the US for both youth and adults aged 18-44. (NAMI)
Smartphone ownership: “There are no differences in smartphone ownership among different racial and ethnic groups.” (Pew Research Center)
If there’s parity in tools, that means we can have parity in methods and quality of care delivered digitally.
clinicians, technology developers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, patient advocates, and health professionals who are interested in shaping the future of mental health care.
The 2018 Technology in Psychiatry Summit: Closing Gaps in Translation will be held on November 1-2, 2018 at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School.
