CBITs announces Rising Star Award to Platform Outstanding Early Career Digital Mental Health Researcher

CBITs Director of Digital Services Jessica Schleider, PhD, observes the emerging work of digital health researcher and T32-fellowship alumnus Adrian Ortega, PhD.

By Shannon R. Smith – December 15, 2025 

The Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies’ (CBITs) has established a new Future of Digital Mental Health Rising Star Award to showcase an emerging digital mental health leader who embodies the future of the field. As part of their rebranded quarterly webinar “The Future of,” dedicated to disseminating cutting edge digital mental health research, the Rising Star Award recipient will close out the academic year’s series. Applications for the 2026 award are now open.  

The winner of this year’s award will have the coveted opportunity to present their innovative research at CBITs’ final webinar of the academic year on May 19, 2026. This gives the awardee the opportunity to share cutting-edge ideas with constituents across sectors, including academia, industry, government, and non-profit advocacy organizations. The awardee will also receive an honorarium of $250 and a certificate commending this accomplishment.  

As the webinar was built to share the research of established leaders in the field, “The Future of” webinar sessions have been led so far by mid- to late-career researchers. Past presenters this year include Nick Jacobson, PhD, who led “The Future of AI and Digital Mental Health,” sharing his groundbreaking research on the first therapeutic AI chatbot, and Clare Purvis, PsyD, who led attendees through a simple framework for predicting digital health apps’ success in the commercial world with her talk, “The Future of Industry and Digital Mental Health.” By creating the Rising Star Award, CBITs aims to spotlight the accomplishments of a promising early career investigator working on the vanguard of digital mental or behavioral health.  

CBITs Co-Director and creator of the Rising Star Award, Andrea Graham, PhD, shares, “Consistent with the theme of our rebranded webinar title "The Future Of," the next generation of scientists who are driving innovation and impact in our field are a perfect embodiment of the spirit of this webinar’s mission. Therefore, we created this award to showcase top quality research, while also supporting an early-stage investigator's career development through an invited talk and award.” 

Applications are now open until 5pm Central on January 30, 2026. To be eligible, the nominee must be an early career investigator, defined as an Assistant Professor equivalent and/or fewer than 7 years after having received their terminal degree, and whose research focuses on digital mental or behavioral health. Applicants in non-academic positions are encouraged to apply. For submission, nominees are asked to submit a brief research abstract on their vision for The Future of Digital Mental Health as based in their research program, a nomination letter describing their contributions, accomplishments, and alignment with the call, and their Curriculum Vitae (CV). For transparency, the evaluation rubric has been shared on the application. Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of CBITs core faculty with emphasis on research significance, impact, and innovation. The awardee of the Rising Star Award will be notified by March 10, 2026. 

The full eligibility criteria, evaluation rubric, and application can be found on the CBITs Webinar Page.