Work with thought leaders and academic experts in mental health

I am broadly interested in the factors that promote or diminish happiness and well-being. My research program explores how constant connectivity to the Internet impacts people’s relationships and well-being and how we can harness technology to improve well-being and promote positive behavioral change. I am a Vanier Scholar and a Rising Star of the Association for Psychological Science (APS). I have written for *The* *New York Times*, *The Conversation*, and *Psychology Today*, and my work has been covered by other prestigious publications such as *The* *Economist, BBC, NPR, Forbes, Fast Company, Time Magazine, The Wall Stree Journal, National Geographic,* and *The Washington Post*. I have consulted for companies such as Ipsos, Canvas8, and Luce Research. See more at www.kushlev.com

I am a highly motivated individual with expertise in various artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP). Over the course of my academic and professional career, I have developed a strong skill set in these areas, and have applied them to various domains, including mental health. At Clarigent Health, I have played a key role in developing and improving machine learning models that analyze patient speech to identify mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety, and suicide risk. In addition, I have been the principal investigator on a NIMH SBIR grant investigating machine learning model performance across different patient characteristics and settings. Moreover, I have experience in developing and implementing customer-facing dashboards using tools like PowerBI, which enable clients to interact with and derive insights from complex data sets. Through my work at Clarigent Health, I have been able to leverage my expertise in ML, NLP, and other AI-related tools to drive innovation and improve mental health outcomes through data-driven solutions.

Dr. Zhou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health at Wayne State's CLAS. Her research uses mixed methods to understand and address the mental health needs of emerging adults and college student populations with particular focus on underserved populations, including students of color, international students, and sexual and gender minorities. Dr. Zhou’s broader research portfolio combines varied methodological approaches to identify the mechanisms that perpetuate mental health disparities, including in-depth qualitative work and large-scale epidemiological surveys.  Dr. Zhou is also a co-investigator of the [Healthy Minds Network](https://healthymindsnetwork.org/), a research-to-practice network dedicated to improving the mental and emotional wellbeing of young people through innovative, multidisciplinary scholarship. She received her Ph.D. in Health Services Organization and Policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where she was a Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH) Scholar. <br> <br>

Dr. Olson is a highly skilled and experienced behavioral neuroscience researcher with expertise in kinesiology, nutrition, meditation, mental health, cognition, and brain function. He received his Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from Rutgers University in 2016 where he primarily studied the influence of exercise and meditation on depression, cognition, and brain health. Prior to that, he completed his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology & Health Promotion from the University of Wyoming in 2010 where he focused on the effects of exercise on stress reactivity and autonomic function. Throughout his career, he has conducted extensive research utilizing psychophysiological techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) to assess event-related potentials (ERP) and electrocardiography to measure heart rate variability (HRV) and pre-ejection period (PEP). Additionally, Dr. Olson is trained in mental health screenings, surveys and questionnaires, IQ testing, cognitive testing, exercise testing and prescription, meditation, metabolic/maximal fitness testing, signal processing, accelerometry, ecological momentary assessment, and data analysis. Common study designs he uses include reviews, meta-analysis, cross sectional, acute/chronic experimental, feasibility, and randomized-controlled trials. Dr. Olson is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Health Promotion, and Recreation with a dual-appointment within the Department of Psychology at the University of North Texas. He established the UNT Sport and Exercise Psychophysiology Lab in 2016 where he currently serves as Lab Director.

Dr. Arpin's research focuses on the application of quantitative methods to the study of social psychological processes, including social interactions, social emotions, and health behavioral outcomes. She has conducted extensive research and published in the areas of loneliness and social determinants of health, using experimental and survey methodology. Dr. Arpin also has experience as a methodology and data analytic consultant on several large grant-funded projects, including DOD-funded intervention studies targeting well-being and social resilience among service-members.

Senior academic and policy advisor. Public and private sector consultant with remit ranging from health ministries and public organizations to insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Cross-institutional leader in research and admin roles focusing on excellence, efficiency, innovation, and community. Strategic and proactive thinker with clear vision and plan, approaching challenges with creativity and adaptability. Highly motivational manager with strong communication skills and impeccable project management track-record.   Expert scholar and educator in health economics, discrete choice experiments, research study design and observational epidemiology. Long experience setting-up and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams into delivering high quality research.

Hi! My name is Laura, and I am a mental health researcher and neuroscientist from Toronto. I have a diverse background in clinical research, industry/startup involvement, and advisory roles. My passion lies in exploring the potential of neurotech and utilizing data-driven insights to understand and support mental well-being. I also deeply value the role of community and collective well-being in fostering positive mental health outcomes.

Ariel D. Kalil is the Daniel Levin Professor of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. She is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a research associate at the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan. She is also a faculty member in the Harris School of Public Policy Studies and in the College at the University of Chicago. Kalil's research lies at the intersection of child development and public policy. She is particularly interested in the effect of early childhood interventions on health and economic outcomes in adulthood. Her work has been published in leading social science journals, including the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and the Journal of Political Economy. Kalil earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor in 1996, her MA in Social Psychology from the University of Colorado System in 1993, and her BA in Psychology and French Literature from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1991.

Dr Nora S Vyas is an Associate Professor in Psychology at the Department of Psychology, Kingston University. She joined Kingston University in 2012, and previously held a Senior Lecturer position at Middlesex University. Dr Vyas completed her PhD in psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), University of London in 2008. Following her PhD, she worked at the Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institutes of Health (Washington DC, USA) as a Lindemann Trust Fellow (English-Speaking Union), preceded by a Fulbright Distinguished Fellowship in 2010. Dr Vyas teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate level in child/adolescent and adult mental health, health psychology, and clinical/cognitive neuroscience. Her research focuses on using clinical, cognitive, and imaging techniques to study individuals with serious mental health problems such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. She applies these skills in other fields such as oncology and mindfulness. Her research specialism is early-onset psychosis, and she has published her work widely.

Carissa van den Berk Clark, Ph.D., LMSW, is an associate professor of family and community medicine. Prior to joining the department, she received her Ph.D. in social welfare policy from the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA where she also completed a pre-doctoral training at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs. She was also a NIDA postdoctoral fellow at the Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. Currently, she is a RWJ IRL fellow, as well as outreach and communications director for the SLU ARCHNet practice based research network and the deputy director of the SLU Area Health Education Center. Her research focuses heavily on substance abuse, mental health, care coordination and uses community participatory methodology.

Luke Connelly is Professor of Health Economics at the Centre for the Business and Economics of Health. He also holds a Professorial appointment (part-time) at The University of Bologna, to which he was appointed in 2017 via the Italian “Direct Call” ([link](https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/luke.connelly/en)) process. In 2019 he was appointed as Honorary Professor at The University of Sydney. His main interests are in health economics and insurance economics and the effects of institutions (including legal constructs) on incentives and behaviour. He has also worked in other fields of applied microeconomics, including education economics and transport economics. His publications include papers in *Review of Income and Wealth*, *Health Economics*, *Journal of Health Economics*, *Journal of Risk and Insurance*, *Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance*, *Accident Analysis and Prevention*, *Journal of Law and Medicine*, *Journal of Clinical Epidemiology*, *European Journal of Health Economics*, *International Journal of Health Economics and Finance*, *Social Science and Medicine*, *Economic Papers*, *Economic Analysis and Policy*, *Journal of Transport Economics and Policy*, *Labour Economics*, *Economics and Human Biology* as well as in a range of clinical journals, including *Lancet*. Luke has served on a number of public committees including the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC), which advises the Australian Minister for Health on the safety, efficacy, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of new and extant listings on Australia's Medicare Benefits Schedule. He has extensive service on other public committees and taskforces as well as extensive teaching and consulting engagements with industry. Over his career he has been a chief investigator on research grants and contracts totalling more than $67m. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of European Journal of Health Economics and the International Journal on Environmental Research and Public Health. He is a member of the International Health Economics Association's Arrow Awards Committee, which awards an annual prize in honour of Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow for the best paper in the field. He is currently Guest Editor (with Christophe Courbage) on a Special Issue of the Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance on Insurance and Emerging Health Risks. His current research interests include health service innovations to improve the health of people with chronic kidney disease(CKD). Ongoing interests include the economics of disability and insurance, compensable injury compensation schemes, and the determinants of health. Luke enjoys and has considerable experience teaching economics and health economics at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. In 2014 he was awarded the School of Economics Distinguished Teaching Award for his teaching on UQ's Master of Health Economics Program. In July 2016 and July 2019 he also taught summer schools in Health Economics and the Economics of Insurance at The University of Lucerne, Switzerland. Over the past 10 years he has been a chief investigator on grants totalling more than $70m.

Christian Waugh, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at Wake Forest University, NC, is an expert in the study of stress resilience, emotions, and effective coping habits. His research features resilience as the result of stress, trauma, and the ability to experience positive emotions in times of stress. Dr. Waugh has been twice honored for teaching excellence at Wake Forest, is a professional speaker, and has published several dozen scientific articles.