We are excited to make two announcements: Dror Ben-Zeev, PhD, has joined Dave Atkins, PhD, as Co-Director of the Behavioral Research in Technology and Engineering (BRiTE) Center. Dror brings extensive research experience with mobile health and populations with serious mental illness (SMI) and has been a leading innovator in how advanced mobile technologies can be harnessed to assess and intervene with mental health problems. In addition, Dror has previously led the mHealth for Mental Health program at Dartmouth, where he successfully created interdisciplinary collaborations and public/private partnerships centered around digital mental health initiatives.

Drs. Ben-Zeev and Atkins are committed to building a community around technology and mental health at the UW. As part of this vision, they aim to grow the Center from the current foundation of faculty expertise, federal grants, and technology industry partnerships by providing a community for broader discussion, consultation, and innovation. To that end, the BRiTE Center is establishing an Affiliate Faculty group with a once monthly meeting for any faculty members within the department who have interests and expertise with technology, even if that is not their primary focus.