The field of psychiatry and mental health is evolving to include a variety of digital tools for providing better assessment and treatment monitoring, as well as general mental health wellness.  Our group develops various digital tools to support assessment and interventions.  Some of these tools involve “digital phenotyping” as well as foreground EMA assessment.

One current project is a neurocognitive battery that is implemented in the form of a mobile game.  While a variety of mobile apps exist to screen or monitor mental health conditions, few apps have been successful because: 1) they lack validation; and 2) they cannot maintain engagement with the user/patient.  Our group is developing a mobile video game which addresses both of these issues.  Each module in the game is derived from traditional clinically validated psychology assessments, and the design of the game provides greater enjoyment and engagement over longer periods of time.

Students: Andrew Zhang, Stephanie McHugh, Dan Chen, Sam Ubellaker, Lydia Sun, Carlos Trevino, Jessica Yin, Alia Rizvi.