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Schizophrenia

AI-Powered Tools to Predict Mental Health Crises in Seriously Ill Patients

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Serious mental illnesses (SMI), such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder, take a significant toll on individuals, their friends and family, and society as a whole. A major unmet need in mental healthcare is predicting when intensive intervention is needed in individual cases. The Albert Einstein College of Medicine has received an $18 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to use AI, cognitive monitoring, and psychiatric symptoms to determine when someone diagnosed with an SMI needs more intensive support.

Key Takeaways:

  • The grant aims to develop prediction algorithms using AI and a novel cognitive assessment tool to identify those at high risk for a crisis, offering interventions to prevent symptom escalation, improve recovery time, and reduce hospitalization.
  • The project will conduct a large-scale clinical study to track patients' changes in cognition, symptoms, and healthcare use over time, allowing researchers to develop a learning algorithm that can identify who is at risk.
  • Regular monitoring of patients with SMI will lead to personalized models that can identify when a specific person is at risk.
  • The research team will recruit 1,500 participants receiving inpatient psychiatric care at McLean Hospital in Boston and follow 250 participants for three months after they leave inpatient psychiatric care.
  • The grant titled "Dynamic Cognitive Phenotypes for Prediction of Mental Health Outcomes in Serious Mental Illness" (1UF1MH135991) was awarded by the National Institute of Mental Health, part of the NIH.
  • The project's goal is to develop tools that can support clinical decision-making and ensure that limited resources get to the right people at the right time.

Statistics:

  • The Albert Einstein College of Medicine received $192 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health in 2024.
  • The grant to develop AI-powered tools for predicting mental health crises is $18 million.
  • 1,500 participants will be recruited for the clinical study at McLean Hospital in Boston.
  • 250 participants will be followed for three months after they leave inpatient psychiatric care.
  • The National Institutes of Health awarded the grant (1UF1MH135991) to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine for the project "Dynamic Cognitive Phenotypes for Prediction of Mental Health Outcomes in Serious Mental Illness".

Sources:

  • Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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