Speaker's Profile

Alison is a clinical research psychologist and health tech visionary dedicated to creating smart, scalable and accessible mental healthcare solutions. Her work to explore how digital treatments can help solve human problems began more than 20 years ago, when she created one of the first online support groups for people with eating disorders. That work led to PhD level studies in psychology at University College Dublin and post-doctoral training at Stanford School of Medicine and with the American Psychiatric Association. At Stanford, Alison also worked with AI pioneer Andrew Ng to explore the intersection of AI and healthcare, leading his Health Innovation Lab in Computer Science. A frequent speaker on digital therapeutics design and development, barriers to care, engagement, and issues of gender in clinical settings, Alison has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and been awarded research grants and contracts from the NIH, NIMH and APA. She is also currently an Adjunct Faculty member of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department of Stanford’s School of Medicine. Alison holds a PhD, an MLitt and a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from University College Dublin.