This is a hybrid in-person and Zoom event for current U-M faculty and Ph.D./M.D. students. Registration required. Light refreshments will be provided.
The live event will be at Weill Hall 5240.

Abstract

Digital mental health interventions have the potential to expand the reach and scalability of treatments and help close the substantial mental health treatment gap documented around the world. Dr. Corina Benjet will present findings and share insights from her experience implementing large-scale clinical trials of digital interventions for university students with anxiety and depression across eight universities in Latin America. Although these interventions reduce many of the barriers that limit students´ access to treatment, significant challenges remain in leveraging digital approaches to meet the mental health needs of university students.

Learn more about Dr. Benjet’s research through related publications in JAMA Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine.

Prof. William Axinn, Interim Director of the International Policy Center (IPC) and Co-Director of the World Mental Health Survey Initiative, will serve as moderator.

This event hosted by the International Policy Center at the Ford School and is co-sponsored by the International Hub at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR). This event is also co-sponsored by the Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE) and the Eisenberg Family Depression Center.

About the Speakers

Dr. Corina Benjet is a senior research scientist at the National Institute of Psychiatry in Mexico City. She is also a professor in the graduate programs of the School of Psychology and the Medical School of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and coordinator of the graduate program in Public Mental Health. She has a Ph.D. in psychology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, a Master´s in clinical psychology from Clark University, and a B.A. from Wellesley College, both in the United States. A collaborator of the World Mental Health Surveys Initiative, her research interests include the epidemiology of mental disorders in adolescents and young adults, and the use of precision medicine and digital strategies to increase the reach, scalability, and effectiveness of mental health interventions.

Prof. William G. Axinn is the Ronald and Deborah Freedman Director of the International Hub at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR), Interim Director of the International Policy Center at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, a research professor at ISR’s Population Studies Center and Survey Research Center, a professor in the Department of Sociology, a faculty affiliate at the Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, and a professor of public policy (by courtesy) at the Ford School. Axinn also serves as co-director of both the Chitwan Valley Family Study and the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. Axinn is a sociologist and demographer whose research interests include: the relationships among social change, the social organization of families, intergenerational relationships, and reproductive and mental health in the United States and Nepal. He also studies the interrelationships between population and the environment and new techniques for the collection of social science data. More recently in his career, Axinn’s interests have evolved to include public policy applications of his research. His teaching centers on the family, the life course, fertility and research methods.