Xinyao Zhang, PhD, is a postdoctoral scholar with interests in the application of technology to advance mental health research and implementation. He graduated from the University of Utah with a PhD in Counseling Psychology and specialty training in machine learning and natural language processing. His dissertation explored the feasibility of large-scale annotation and analysis for the nonlinearity of momentary suicide risk through a pipeline of machine-learning automation and dynamical system modeling. Besides advancing mechanistic research, he also served as a psychology consultant at a start-up company (Futuro.ai) to explore the landscape of AI-powered self-care products for Gen Z. He has multiple experiences working in multidisciplinary teams that bridge mental health and technology to reimagine research and product design. 

 

Prior to joining BRiTE, he completed his clinical internship at Penn State University Counseling and Psychological Services, where he collaborated with the Center for Collegiate Mental Health to examine alternative ways of using routine working alliance measure that overcome its ceiling effect and improve clinical usability while minimizing implementation cost. Clinically, he is an integrative therapist trained in psychodynamic, CBT, DBT, emotion-focused therapy, and crisis management for adults with depression, anxiety, relationship issues, and suicide.