Director's Message

Welcome to the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITs) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Digital mental health (DMH) harnesses commonly available technologies such as apps, websites, communications and sensors to support the care of people with mental health problems. DMH has the potential to provide cost-effective care for mental health problems. There is a large evidence base demonstrating the effectiveness of digital mental health interventions, particularly for common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. However, DMH has not been broadly adopted, and attempts to integrate DMH into healthcare systems have been modestly successful at best.

The mission of CBITs is to conduct research that will lead to broad and sustainable implementation of effective DMH interventions in our healthcare systems and communities and to train the next generation of DMH investigators.

CBITs is working toward these goals with a multidisciplinary faculty whose expertise includes clinical psychology, human-computer interaction, computer science, communication and data analytics. Our research, funded by the federal agencies (National Institutes of Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality), foundations and industry-supported collaborations, focuses on user-centered design and evaluation of innovative tools and care management and implementation strategies for healthcare systems. We work with community partners to create digital solutions that promote mental health equity. CBITs is also involved in policy development aimed at establishing the regulatory and reimbursement infrastructure necessary for broad adoption of DMH. We provide multidisciplinary training to undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in clinical science and human-computer interaction research.We offer a variety of seminars and webinars featuring luminaries in DMH and related fields.

Thank you for your interest in our center. We invite you to explore our website and to contact us at cbits@northwestern.edu for more information.