STANFORD CATALYST FOR COLLABORATIVE SOLUTIONS
Overview
We know that repeated stresses that feel outside of our control can be a risk factor in developing clinical disorders of mental health such as depression and anxiety. Yet, right now, we do not have tests for monitoring when we are at risk of these disorders. Mental health diagnostics and treatment decisions rely on subjective judgments. In this collaborative study, we are developing and testing a cutting-edge wearable that measures physical signs of stress and changes in these signs. Our research connects these wearable metrics to brain circuit changes that are called ‘biotypes’ and that characterize mental states and disorders. We measure biotypes using functional imaging scans of the brain in the same people who have the wearable. By integrating these metrics and data, we are building a transformative system for more precisely detecting an individual’s personal signature of risk as they move from adaptive stress responses into maladaptive states.
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An effort like this requires a multidisciplinary collaborative approach. Our team is made up of people from several departments, including psychiatry, chemical engineering, bioengineering, and computer science. Our faculty team includes co-PIs Zhenan Bao and Leanne Williams, and Keith Humphreys, Pablo Paredes, Jan Liphardt, and James Landay. The study was possible thanks to the Stanford Catalyst for Collaborative Solutions initiative.
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Together, we are creating and hoping to sustain a system of mental health care that is informed by objective data and focused on prevention and personalized interventions.
We are excited to share with you our wearable solution for mental health.
Most of us have felt anxious or depressed at some point. But at what point does your short-term feeling of depression become a debilitating illness such as Major Depressive Disorder?
Anxiety and depressive disorders affect over 400 million people globally and cost 1 trillion dollars to address each year. These disorders are fatal. 1 million people die every year from suicide caused by depression.
Our team has a solution to this devastating situation. And, the solution is possible because of our combined expertise in cutting-edge wearable technology and brain imaging.
Right now, mental health care relies on subjective judgments. Our solution brings objectivity. We have a wearable that measures physical changes, and we connect these to the changes in biological brain circuits that define mental states and disorders. We hope to then more precisely predict an individual’s personal signature for depression risk.
Our wearable - the Mentaid - will be in the form of a patch on the skin that is discreet and comfortable. We are combining existing sensors with new generation biological sensors to monitor physiological changes that have been shown to be correlated to mental states. The device will have the capability to detect hormones in sweat, skin conductivity, electrolytes, in addition to other traditional measures such as light, sound, and heart rate.
An effort like this requires a multidisciplinary approach, so our team is made up of people from several departments, including psychiatry, chemical engineering, bioengineering, computer science, and global health. Together, we are creating and hope to sustain a system of mental health care that is informed by objective biological data and is focused on prevention and personalized treatments.
Our work is relevant to all of us because we all experience these common mental states. We want to hear from you on what you would find useful in a wearable like this. Please send us your feedback and join us in finally treating something so common as depression with as much seriousness and care as it really demands.​
Mentaid
Each of our departments is located in various parts of the Stanford campus (red circles).
We are...
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8 departments:
- Psychiatry
- Computer Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Design School
- Bioengineering
- Global Health
- Policy/Law
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3 schools:
- School of Medicine
- School of Engineering
- Law School
Meet the Team
Zhenan Bao
Principal Investigator
Department:
Chemical Engineering
Position:
Professor
Keith Humphreys
Co-Principal Investigator
Department:
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Position:
Professor
Pablo Paredes
Co-Principal Investigator
Department:
Radiology, Psychiatry, and
Behavioral Sciences
Position:
Instructor
Elizabeth Murnane
Postdoctoral Scholar
Department:
Computer Science
Position:
Postdoctoral Scholar
Amir Foudeh
Postdoctoral Scholar
Department:
Chemical Engineering
Position:
Postdoctoral Scholar
Leanne Williams
Co-Principal Investigator
Department:
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Position:
Professor
Erin MacDonald
Co-Principal Investigator
Department:
Mechanical Engineering
Position:
Assistant Professor
Michele Barry
Senior Team Member
Department:
School of Medicine,
Population Health
Position:
Senior Associate Dean
for Global Health
Yuqing Zheng
Postdoctoral Scholar
Department:
Chemical Engineering
Position:
Postdoctoral Scholar
Bailey Holt-Gosselin
Research Asssistant
Department:
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Position:
Neuroimaging Research Assistant
Jan Liphardt
Co-Principal Investigator
Department:
Bioengineering
Position:
Associate Professor
​James Landay
Co-Principal Investigator
Department:
Computer Science
Position:
Professor
​Katherine Burke
Senior Team Member
Department:
School of Medicine,
Population Health
Position:
Deputy Director,
Standford Global Health
Levent Beker
Postdoctoral Scholar
Department:
Chemical Engineering
Position:
Postdoctoral Scholar
Ben Alpers
Research Assistant
Department:
Mechanical Engineering
Position:
Design Research Assistant
Leonardo Tozzi
Postdoctoral Scholar
Department:
Psychiatry and
Behavioral Sciences
Position:
Postdoctoral Scholar
Events
Our passion for mental health and technology motivates us to attend events where we can both share our work and learn from others.
January 15, 2020
We held the Catalyst Symposium on Mental Health to discuss innovative research approaches to long-term solutions for detecting and managing depression, stress, and other mental health challenges.
Our interdisciplinary research team provided key learnings in addition to topics including wearable biosensors for detecting stress hormones, phenotyping of depression and managing stress through behavioral interventions, and more.
October 25, 2019
Drs. Leanne Williams and Zhenan Bao presented "Effective, Scalable, and Affordable Strategies for Mental Health" at the 2019 Stanford School of Engineering Alumni Event, Catalyzing Wellness
We presented a poster at the 2019 Stanford School of Engineering Alumni Event, Catalyzing Wellness
February 28, 2018
The eWear conference allowed us to connect with a diverse wearables community. Dr. Zhenan Bao, who is the founder and faculty director of eWear, commenced the conference. She also gave a talk on "Skin-Inspired Electronic Materials."
Dr. Jan Liphardt spoke on the "Challenges for Implementing Wearables" panel.
Dr. James Landay gave a talk on "How to Use Haptics to Change Behavior."
Druthi Ghanta gave a brief pitch on behalf of Mentaid at the eWear conference.
Our team presented at the poster session. Pictured (from left to right) are Ben Alpers, Druthi Ghanta, Dr. Elizabeth Murnane, and Dr. Yuqing Zheng.
February 27, 2018
We participated in an eWear workshop on design thinking principles led by Dr. Erin MacDonald and Ben Alpers. The workshop focused on wearables for mental health.
We worked in teams with individuals from Stanford and industry. Druthi Ghanta is pictured collaborating with her workshop partner.
Yuqing Zheng is presenting her group's responses to the design task.
November 7, 2017
We presented at the 2017 Stanford School of Engineering Dean's Circle, where we were grateful to discuss mental health and receive feedback from the attendees.
Mentaid team in the audience at the 2017 Stanford School of Engineering Dean's Circle.
The Stanford Catalyst for Collaborative Solutions​​
The Stanford Catalyst for Collaborative Solutions is a new initiative with a bold mission – to create an open space to explore uncommon interdisciplinary solutions to our world’s most pressing problems and to become an internationally recognized model of a purposeful, high-impact, and interdisciplinary research ecosystem. Learn more about Catalyst.
Our team is a finalist in the 2017 Future 10 Grand Challenges.