Nick Allen PhD

Nick Allen is the Ann Swindells Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Oregon. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Ksana Health Inc, a company whose mission is to use research evidence and modern technology to revolutionize the delivery of mental health care through remote behavioral monitoring and adaptive, continuous behavior change support. His research work has particularly focussed on understanding the interactions between multiple risk factors for adolescent onset mental health disorders, and to use these insights to develop innovative approaches to prevention and early intervention. He is the Director of the Center for Digital Mental Health, where his group holds multiple NIH funded grants for work focussing on the use of mobile and wearable technology to monitor risk for poor mental health outcomes including suicide, depression, and bipolar disorder. He is also the Principal Ivestigator on the Google Digital Wellbeing study, a major study of the impact of digital device use on wellbeing and mental health. He has been an expert scientific advisor to the World Health Organization, Google Health, the Jed Foundation, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, amonst many others. His group has developed software tools that combine active and passive sensing methods to provide intensive longitudinal assessment of behavior with minimal participant burden. The ultimate aim of these technologies, which are being developed through Ksana Health, is to develop a new generation of “just-in-time” behavioral interventions for early intervention and prevention of mental health problems.