I hope you are continuing to start the year off well.
I have been steeped in getting my new nonprofit organization, called Mind Blossom, off the ground, and establishing new connections with podcasters and science communication communities.
As is my routine, I wanted to give you an update on the newest articles I have written that may be of interest to you - I will take a different turn than usual and end with a podcast and webinar I was recently featured on. I hope some of it all will spark your interest!
1. Subkit:
This month's Subkit newsletters are both freely accessible to you! I write about personalized treatments - how are genetic testing, wearables, machine learning and AI transforming the way we approach healthcare? I recently interviewed Dr. Amit Ektin, the CEO of Alto Neuroscience and professor of Stanford University, whose mission is to identify treatments for complex mental illnesses using biomarkers and AI. I will dive into my conversation with Amit in future newsletters. Stay tuned!
I wrote a second newsletter this month on the lived experience and neurobiology of resilience. I was inspired to write this article because of interviews I have conducted with people who have lived through terrible events, including rape, childhood abuse, severe accidents and life-changing chronic illnesses. This article is also published in Psychology Today in a shorter version. The subkit article dives into the neurobiology of resilience and interrogates what makes some of these people better at coping than others.
2. Psychology Today:
This month, I have published two articles in Psychology Today. I already told you about the shorter version of the resilience article mentioned above. The second article zooms in on the neurobiology of body dysmorphic disorder. There is, sadly, little research on the neurobiological roots of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). This does not serve anybody well since we know that BDD can be a gateway to other mental illnesses (as discussed in this article). Strikingly, despite the lack of research there are interesting theories as to what BDD really is: some reseach suggests it may be another form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) due to the large overlaps in behavior and brain functions. Yet, other research suggests that BDD may be more aligned with the neurobiological roots causing psychoses: their external reality is distorted and mismatched with their internal perceptions. Lastly, other research suggests the cause of BDD resides in an issue with visual perception. They are literally not perceiving the world as a person without BDD would. Do you or someone you know struggle with BDD? I'd love to chat with you!
3. Webinar and Podcast:
Over the last month I have been featured on a webinar where I talked to Dr. Ryan Jacoby, a clinical psychologist and researcher at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, on the topic of using biosensors to identify new ways of diagnosing and treating people with rumination disorders (this group of metnal illnesses spans people with OCD, anxiety, eating disorders and major depression).
I also talked to Deepak John Reji on his D4 podcast on how biosensors can revolutionize mental healthcare. Yout can listen to it all on Spotify or Youtube (which includes video).