#85 - Measuring Mental Health with Ksana Health Co-Founder Nick Allen

You can't fix what you don't measure. Measurement and testing of our mental health lags the same capabilities in physical health care. Dr. Nick Allen, our guest today, is building a mental health measurement solution for clinical use. Today we talk to him about the challenges, and opportunity for his startup, Ksana Health.

Nick is leveraging the tools and technologies that he developed as the Director of University of Oregon's Center for Digital Mental Health into products and services that are transforming mental health care.

Nick is a clinical psychologist and social neuroscientist who investigates the interaction between biological, psychological, and environmental risk factors during adolescent development and measures these factors to focus on prevention of mental health problems.

You can connect with Nick here on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-allen-42256218a/

Ksana Health website: https://ksanahealth.com/

What If Fellowship: https://whatif.vc/fellowship

HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT:

1. Nick shares his background in psychology, his focus on adolescent mental health, and about his decision to build Ksana Health starting in 2019.
   
   
   
2. We talk in depth about Ksana Health, how the technology effectively measures mental wellbeing on a continuous basis, and where they are with the platform today.
   
   
   
3. Nick talks about the type of data that is being collected through Ksana Health, what this data is indicative of in terms of mental health, and what clinicians can do with this data to further treat their patients.
   
   
   
4. We talk about what is coming next for Ksana Health post fundraising, two big projects that they are currently pursuing, and what benefits will come from these expansions to the company.
   
   
   
5. Nick shares about which groups they are most interested in working with, why these groups fit with their current business model, and how it will lead to less crisis in mental health overall.
   
   
   
6. We discuss the previous attempts at digital phenotyping, why it did not work as well in the past, and how Ksana Health is doing it more efficiently.
   
   
   
7. Nick gives advice for those who are just starting to explore this space as investors and entrepreneurs, and what other opportunities are out there for people to get involved in who are interested in this space.

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