Vivienne Ming

A bold vision: restoring speech, vision, and movement by regrowing parts of the human brain.   A bold new ARPA-H program could transform lives for millions living with stroke, traumatic injury, or neurodegenerative disease.   The 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗲𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 (𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧) program launches a five-year mission to regenerate damaged brain tissue and recover lost cognitive and motor function.   𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 • Advanced stem-cell grafts that integrate seamlessly with the patient's neocortex • Recreates the brain's natural layered structure • Targets restoration of critical abilities including speech, vision, and movement • Unites multidisciplinary teams of neuroscientists, cell biologists, clinicians, and regulators   𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 FRONT could provide curative solutions for more than 20 million Americans. potentially saving the U.S. economy $800 billion annually in direct care costs and lost productivity.   𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀' 𝗗𝗮𝘆 August 8, 2025 (register by August 5) 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 August 18, 2025 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 September 25, 2025   Multidisciplinary teams who can address these complex processes can apply through the ARPA-H Solutions Portal opening in early August.   This innovation promises to transform patient lives while accelerating U.S. leadership in brain-repair technology.   How do you think regenerative brain therapy could change healthcare in the next decade? Let us know in the comments.   Join our newsletter for the latest MILMED R&D updates >> Link in comments

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Honored to present tomorrow at UCLA Semel Institute's Geriatric Psychiatry Grand Rounds on developing embodied technologies for mental health and moving beyond screen-based interfaces to engage the whole person. Abstract: Modern computing technologies were not designed with mental health in mind. Their screen-based interfaces demand continuous visual attention, narrow sensory experience, and restrict the natural use of our hands and body. In psychiatry, these same constraints can aggravate difficulties already common in many conditions: social disconnection, emotional blunting, and interoceptive dysfunctions. In this presentation, I will suggest an alternative approach grounded in human interaction, where body-based technology supports mental health by engaging the whole person. I will review my research on aesthetic chills; the brief waves of goosebumps or shivers people commonly experience during meaningful music or film, and the work we have been doing at BeSound exploring the use of sonification for PTSD and neurodegeneration. Join us at 12pm PST [Meeting ID: 940 4467 3340 | Password: 123456] Thanks for the invitation, Helen Lavretsky, UCLA Longevity Center #MentalHealth #Neuroscience #EmbodiedCognition

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🥰😍WOMEN ON A MISSION TO CURE ARTHERITIS WOW! Stanford Medicine researchers led by Dr. Helen Blau and Dr. Nidhi Bhutani have identified a method to reverse cartilage loss in arthritis by targeting a protein called a "gerozyme". Their 2025 research suggests that blocking this protein can regenerate cartilage in both mouse and human tissues. Recent breakthroughs by researchers, particularly at Stanford Medicine and in studies from Australia, have shown that inhibiting specific "gerozyme" proteins can reverse cartilage loss and regenerate joint tissue in mice and human tissue. These findings, including new injectable cell therapies and "smart gels," offer potential for reversing osteoarthritis, rather than just managing symptoms, with human trials for some methods either planned or underway. https://lnkd.in/eet9PPqS

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📣 APA press release: Protect Adolescent AI Users Finally, a wake-up call with real urgency. The APA is now calling for guardrails, education, and regulatory action to protect adolescents using AI, including generative tools like ChatGPT and other LLM-based systems. This is long overdue. As I’ve written before, millions of young people are already turning to AI chatbots for emotional support, companionship, and even pseudo-therapy. Yet the tools they’re using were not designed for psychological use, and most operate with no clinical safeguards, transparency, or regulatory oversight. 🔍 The Evolution of Safety in Mental Health LLMs (https://lnkd.in/gGZzdFVr) ⚖️ The Current Regulatory Landscape for AI in Mental Health (https://lnkd.in/gwi8Geny) The risks here are real: misdiagnosis, over-reliance, simulated empathy, emotional dependency, and a widening gap between user adoption and professional accountability. APA’s statement is a crucial step, but only a first one. We need concrete safety audits, clearer regulatory frameworks, and a robust public dialogue around what it means for AI to “support” mental health—especially for vulnerable populations like teens. If this matters to you, whether you’re a clinician, developer, policymaker, or researcher, join the conversation in my LinkedIn group "Advances in AI for Mental Health". No hype. No ads. Just serious, thoughtful people shaping the future of care. Join here: https://lnkd.in/gRJEdwq8 Read the APA release here: https://lnkd.in/gxqnKsaf  #AIinMentalHealth #ProtectTeens #LLMsafety#DigitalHealth #YouthMentalHealth #AIEthics #MentalHealthPolicy #ResponsibleAI

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Dear LinkedIn Community, I am excited to share recent advancements in psychiatric treatment technologies that are shaping the future of mental health care. 1. Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Resurgence: The Bay Area is witnessing a renewed interest in psychedelic therapy, utilizing substances like MDMA, psilocybin, and ketamine to address conditions such as trauma, PTSD, addiction, and chronic pain. Therapists report significant improvements in patients, offering new hope for those seeking alternative treatments. https://lnkd.in/eGNaKEef 2. FDA-Approved Digital Therapeutics: The FDA has approved Rejoyn, the first app-based treatment for major depressive disorder. This smartphone application employs tasks designed to rewire neural circuits associated with depression, providing a novel, accessible supplement to traditional therapies. https://lnkd.in/eWcfAvPq 3. Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health: AI is increasingly integrated into mental health care, with applications ranging from personalized interventions to virtual therapists and chatbots. These technologies offer scalable, accessible support for individuals seeking mental health assistance. https://lnkd.in/eTteXKE6 4. Extended Reality (XR) Applications: Extended Reality technologies, including Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), are being explored for mental health evaluation and treatment. These immersive tools provide innovative methods for therapy and assessment, enhancing patient engagement and outcomes. https://lnkd.in/eFAKuPwE These developments underscore the dynamic intersection of technology and psychiatry, offering promising avenues for more effective and personalized mental health care. Best regards, Javier

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New peer-reviewed research from Modern Health! 🧠📱 We teamed up with Dr. Molly Nowels, MA, MS, PhD and Dr. Elissa Kozlov to examine how employees engage with Modern Health's comprehensive, adaptive mental health platform—and found that self-guided resources, especially when paired with live support like therapy or coaching, can drive significantly higher engagement. At a time when access and scale matter more than ever, this is powerful evidence that mental health care is most effective when it leverages a spectrum of tools to meet people where they are. https://lnkd.in/gJvPvjiH #MentalHealth #HealthTech #DigitalHealth #EmployeeWellbeing #BenefitsStrategy #PeerReviewed #EvidenceBased

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Cathryn Cadwell, MD, PhD (UCSF) and I will be presenting "Precision Pipelines: Accelerating Epilepsy Translation with DataJoint" at the PMWC - Precision Medicine World Conference, March 4–6 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, co-hosted by Stanford, UCSF & Yale. Our session is part of the AI and Data Sciences Showcase on March 4th. The Cadwell Lab is tackling drug-resistant epilepsy not as a single-model problem but as a multi-scale system—spanning single-cell genomics, physiology, morphology, and circuit dynamics in human tissue. Complex problems become tractable when the pipeline captures not just data but the full logic of how it was derived—so humans and AI can tag-team branching, iterating, and integrating across modalities without fragmenting workflows across disconnected tools. Science this complex demands operational rigor—where progress is captured, mistakes are reversible, and every result carries the full record of how it was derived. That's what makes AI-driven research possible: not just smarter models, but systems where humans steer and automation executes with confidence. If you're at PMWC26, come find us! #PMWC2026, Tal Behar

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Thanks to Mario Aguilar at STAT for including me in this very informative piece (link in comments). Here is the critical takeaway: As AI conversational agents enter the mental-health space, it’s imperative we shift from hype to rigorous evaluation—especially when claims are made about therapeutic effectiveness. From its founding, Lyssn has been deeply rooted in peer-reviewed science and real clinical data. We designed our AI platform to support clinicians — to measure fidelity of evidence-based practices in therapy sessions, to give feedback that matters, to help scale quality without sacrificing rigor. In the article I commented on how current tools are exploring ambitious territory — but the reality is, talk therapy across modalities is rich with nuance: moment-to-moment therapist-client interaction, context, culture, emotion. AI conversational agents can not replicate that nuance yet. The study referenced underscores the need for independent peer validation, full transparency of algorithmic assumptions, and real-world clinical trials. Accountability and trust must be paramount. Looking ahead, AI developers in mental health and human services must be prepared to answer: Is the tool valid across different populations? Is it sensitive to cultural and language diversity? Does it meaningfully predict outcomes, not just classify conversation features? If we answer yes to those, then we’re not just innovating—we’re helping elevate the standard of care. I’m encouraged by the momentum of AI integrations in mental health and social services, and I remain committed to ensuring that Lyssn contributes to that—by staying anchored in validated science, measurement, and clinical relevance while keeping the human element front and center. 

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One week. Five faculty. 130 students. An AI tutor named Paski. And an NPS of +78. What happens when you mix live faculty with generative AI? Just over 100 days ago, a team of us gathered at Evans Hall on Berkeley Campus to design a new kind of learning experience - a Generative AI 1-Week Intensive. The faculty “Dream Team,” as Prof. Xiao-Li Meng called them in the Harvard Data Science Initiative’s press release, had flown in from Boston, Munich, Lausanne, and Vancouver. My team at Next Gen Learning (NGL) was privileged to work alongside them. Two weeks ago, we presented the course to 130+ people from around the world. This is a screenshot from our opening lecture showing student locations behind a wall of student emojis during Prof. Meng’s welcome address. This post covers several topics, designed to share our learnings with the hope that it can be used by educators, technologists and leaders who seek to integrate generative AI thoughtfully and responsibly into their work. I have included a range of screencasts to more fully showcase our work and methods. What This Post Covers 1. 50% of student learning time was spent with Paski, our AI Tutor 2. Why most AI tutors fail 3. How we designed Paski 4. How Paski works technically 5. Integrating faculty’s Digital Twins 6. Personalized lecture debriefs 7. The Personalized Curriculum / Personalized Textbook 8. Blurring the line between education and consulting 9. What didn't work well 10. The student experience - in their words 11. Personalizing for corporate teams 12. What’s next Here is the full post on my blog: https://lnkd.in/d5uTTMKE

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In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Tom Rosenblatt shares his journey of overcoming chronic pain with the assistance of Claude, an AI chatbot developed by Anthropic. After traditional medical tests yielded no answers, Claude provided personalized insights that led to effective relief strategies. This narrative exemplifies the transformative potential of AI in healthcare—a central theme in my book, Smarter Healthcare with AI. In it, I delve into the VP4 Framework: Purpose, Personalization, Partnership, and Productivity, illustrating how AI can revolutionize patient care by offering tailored solutions and fostering collaborative relationships between patients and providers. Rosenblatt’s experience underscores the importance of integrating AI thoughtfully and ethically into healthcare systems. By embracing such technologies, we can move towards a more responsive and personalized healthcare paradigm. For those interested in exploring how AI can be harnessed to enhance healthcare delivery, I invite you to read Tom’s story and explore more in Smarter Healthcare with AI. #AIinHealthcare #SmarterHealthcare #PersonalizedMedicine #HealthcareInnovation #VP4Framework

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"A steady diet of low-hanging fruit leads to innovation malnutrition." - Me (various times over the past 10 years across govt, industry and academia). This article and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) conference on the future of science publishing hits on the same theme from a different angle. We have been trained to aim low - in industry its minimal viable whatever, in government its low-hanging fruit, and in academia it is low-risk incrementalism. Yet when we are trying to solve an ecosystem level problem, like science publishing, we need to embrace complexity and match it in our solution. If your car is out of gas, battery power and oil with four flat tires, fixing any one of those things won't demonstrate it as a viable solution. This is what many well meaning people in the open science, meta-science, decentralized science, science sleuthing and related communities are doing - solving isolated problems in a complex, multi-variable and multi-incentive system. Praxis Science aims to fix that, with the help of the science community (which has more basic Masloff's science needs right now). Don't run away from complexity l, embrace it. If you are interested in being involved (or funding) complex solutions, come find me, because the advent of the internet didn't correct the publishing issues, it is doubtful smaller isolated solutions will either. Key article quote (from the HHMI/Janelia Farms conference quotes): “…science would benefit from publication of scientific results in an integrated research ‘container’ and ‘environment’ that facilitates both more complete reporting of scientific information and a post-publication ecosystem for reviewing, summarizing, synthesizing, and interpreting scientific results.” #science #research #publishing #incentives #complexity Kris Rockwell Amicia D. Elliott, Ph.D. Scot MacTaggart https://lnkd.in/eURYeGsg

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