The Society of Digital Psychiatry in collaboration with JMIR Mental Health, an open access, peer-reviewed journal published by JMIR Publications, invites you to a webinar titled Supporting Eating Disorder Treatment with AI and Digital Technology.
Historically, the use of digital technology has been cautiously avoided in the treatment of eating disorders. However, recent advancements have brought artificial intelligence (AI) into the fold. While this shift has sparked some controversy, it presents exciting opportunities to leverage AI and digital technologies to better support individuals with eating disorders and their communities.
Join us for an insightful discussion, as Gemma Sharp, PhD, and Sara Marini, BA, delve into the controversies and opportunities surrounding the use of AI for eating disorder support, They will also share insights from their pioneering work of implementing a rule-based chatbot in the National Eating Disorder Information Centre.
Date: August 28, 2024
Time: 12 PM ET
Register: Here
Guests:
Gemma Sharp, PhD
Associate Professor Gemma Sharp is the lead of the Body Image and Eating Disorders Research Program at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. She is also the director of the international Consortium for Research in Eating Disorders (CoRe-ED), which will be officially launched in September 2024. As a senior researcher and clinical psychologist, Dr Sharp has been leading national and international initiatives in the field of AI and digital health since 2018. She is excited by the recent advances in technology to support people experiencing body image concerns and eating issues as well as their loved ones, or trauma treatment and psychiatric illnesses involving the disruption of bodily perception and function. She also provides support and connects researchers, providers, and developers of immersive technology through the Stanford Psychiatry Immersive Technology Consortium (SPIT-C).
Sara Marini, BA
Sara Marini is the operations and communications coordinator at the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) in Toronto, Canada. Her work at NEDIC supports digital transformation, including the introduction of live chat helpline services and the forthcoming launch of the JEM™ chatbot—a collaboration between NEDIC and researchers at Monash University. Sara is a Master of Public Policy candidate at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
Moderator:
John Torous, MD, MBI; Cofounder, Society of Digital Psychiatry
Dr Torous is the director of the Digital Psychiatry division in the Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an affiliated teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, where he also serves as a staff psychiatrist and member of the academic faculty. He has a background in electrical engineering and computer sciences; he earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, before pursuing medical school at the University of California, San Diego. Dr Torous completed his psychiatry residency, fellowship in clinical informatics, and master’s degree in biomedical informatics at Harvard. He actively investigates the potential of mobile mental health technologies for psychiatry and has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and 5 book chapters on the subject. Dr Torous serves as the editor-in-chief of JMIR Mental Health.