March 17, 2025
8:00 am – 6:30 pm
Class of 1982 Engineering and Computer Science Center
Room 116 and South Atrium
15 Thayer Drive
Hanover, NH
The Center for Technology and Behavioral Health at Dartmouth is sponsoring a symposium on AI and student mental health, building on the Digital Mental Health & AI Symposium of 2023.
This one-day event will explore the growing challenges of student mental health on college campuses and examine how AI technology and behavioral sensing from mobile phones and wearables can create new opportunities for assessing mental well-being and implementing interventions to help students thrive on college campuses.
Estevan Garcia, Dartmouth’s Chief Health and Wellness Officer, will open the event, followed by Ellie Pavlick’s (Brown University/DeepMind) keynote on AI for mental health. Short talks will set the stage, featuring Matthew Duncan (Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College) and Katie Lenhoff (JED Campus Project Manager, Student Wellness Center, Dartmouth College), David Blanchflower (Economics, Dartmouth College), and Lisa Marsch (Director, Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, Dartmouth College). The symposium will include panel discussions on student perspectives, AI and intervention, AI and HCI, and AI and behavioral sensing. The event will conclude with a poster session and reception.
Symposium Organizers
- Andrew Campbell: Computer Science, Dartmouth College
- Nick Jacobson: Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College
- Lisa Marsch: Director of the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, Dartmouth College
- Varun Mishra: Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University
- Thomas Thesen: Medical Education, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth
- Sonia Oren: Research Program Manager, Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, Dartmouth College
Agenda
8:00 – 8:30 am – Registration and Breakfast (South Atrium)
8:30 – 8.45 am – Welcome: Andrew Campbell, Computer Science, Dartmouth College
8:45 – 9:00 am – Opening Remarks: Estevan Garcia, Chief Health and Wellness Officer, Dartmouth College
9:00 – 10:00 am – Keynote Speaker: “How do we make LLMs work for Mental Health?”, Ellie Pavlick, Brown University/ Deep Mind
10:00 – 10:30 am Coffee Break (South Atrium)
10:30-12:00 pm Setting the Scene: The Youth Mental Health Crisis
10:30 – 11:00 am – “Robust and Realworld Strategic Planning for Student Mental Health and Well-being at Dartmouth,” Matthew Duncan, Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth and Katie Lenhoff, JED Campus Project Manager, Student Wellness Center, Dartmouth College
11:00 – 11:30 am – “Global Perspective on Declining Youth Mental Health,” David Blanchflower, Economics, Dartmouth College
11:30 – 12:00 pm – “AI-powered personalized wellness for students”, Lisa Marsch, Director, Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, Dartmouth College
12:00 – 1:00 pm – Lunch (South Atrium)
1:00 – 1:45 pm – Panel Discussion – Student Perspectives on Mental Health and Flourishing on College Campuses in the AI Age
Scope: Addressing how students can flourish on college campuses while managing mental health challenges remains a critical issue at Dartmouth and beyond. This panel of students and faculty will discuss the stress and stain of college life—and how new technology, such as AI, may help or hinder their well-being.
- Moderator: Andrew Campbell, Computer Science, Dartmouth College
- Daniela Armella ’24, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth
- Caroline Conway ‘24, Clinical Research, Emory University
- Margaret Funnell, Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth
1:45 – 2:30 pm – Panel Discussion – AI and Intervention
Scope: Recent advances in sensing technology, machine learning, and generative AI have created new opportunities for supporting student resilience and offering prevention and interventions for mental health and well-being. This panel will discuss how technological innovations can provide early detection of distress, personalized support, and improved resource accessibility. The panel will discuss the balance between technological innovation and ethical concerns, including privacy, algorithmic bias, and maintaining human connection, as we consider how digital tools can complement and extend traditional support systems while addressing today’s students’ unique mental health challenges.
- Moderator: Thomas Thesen, Medical Education, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College
- Nick Jacobson, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College
- Lynn E. Fiellin, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College
- Sarah Preum, Computer Science, Dartmouth College
2:30 – 3:00 am Coffee Break (South Atrium)
3:00 – 3:45 pm – Panel Discussion – AI and HCI
Scope: This panel discussion will focus on how AI-driven technologies can enhance human experiences, decision-making, and engagement across diverse applications. Panelists will examine the ethical considerations of AI in human-computer interactions (HCI), the latest innovations in AI-driven interfaces, and the role of design thinking in developing AI tools that are accessible, inclusive, effective, and accessible. The session will also address the challenges of balancing automation with human input, ensuring AI systems enhance, rather than replace, human interactions. Through this engaging conversation, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of AI’s evolving role in HCI and the critical importance of collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches in designing intelligent, human-centered technologies.
- Moderator: Lynn E. Fiellin, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College
- Lorie Loeb, Co-Director DALI Lab, Computer Science, Dartmouth College
- Elizabeth Murnane, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College
- Tim Tregubov, Co-Director DALI Lab, Computer Science, Dartmouth College
3:45 – 4:30 pm – Panel Discussion – AI and Behavioral Sensing
Scope: This panel will explore the convergence of AI and behavioral sensing technologies to revolutionize mental health assessment and intervention. Drawing on passive sensing data from smartphone and wearable devices, panelists will discuss how these technologies enable the creation of digital biomarkers for detecting psychiatric disorders, measuring disorder severity, and predicting short-term and long-term changes in mental health and flourishing. The discussion will address the challenges and opportunities in developing personalized versus generalizable machine learning models, the ethical considerations in passive data collection, and the future for creating personalized, predictive mental health care systems to identify periods of heightened risk and deliver timely interventions. Panelists will share their insights in balancing data collection and research needs with patient burden, ensuring privacy, and discussing the potential for these data to transform digital measurements into meaningful applications for student populations.
- Moderator: Nick Jacobson, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College
- Thomas Thesen, Medical Education, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth
- Varun Mishra, Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University
- Andrew Campbell, Computer Science, Dartmouth College
4.30 – 5:00 pm – Closing Remarks: Nicholas C. Jacobson, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College
5:00 – 6:30 pm – Poster Session and Reception (South Atrium)
Please contact Sonia.D.Oren@Dartmouth.edu with any questions.