MindTech

Rufus Mitchell-Heggs is the Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer of Connectome - a neurotechnology company transforming how we understand and optimise the human brain. Connectome’s mission is to make advanced brain insights accessible to everyone, starting with a non-invasive scan, and over time building the world’s largest longitudinal brain dataset.In this episode, we discuss how Rufus and his team are focused on:Only providing metrics that people can act onThe surprising customer segment raving about this technologyBalancing the tension between ‘moving fast and breaking things’ with ‘doing things properly’You will also get to see Rufus demoing the headset himself!If you’d like to participate in Connectome’s upcoming:Study at Imperial College London, you can sign up to their waitlist here.Round of fundraising, feel free to reach out to Rufus directly on LinkedIn. Access the MindTech Matrix⁠ - see where Connectome sits on the first and only map of mind health technology startups organised by the problem they’re solving and the solution they’re building.Links mentioned in the podcast episode:⁠Neurotechnology Funding Snapshot (2024)⁠⁠40% of Dementia Cases are Preventable⁠⁠Biomarkers: What Makes One Great?⁠⁠It Takes an Average of 17 Years for Evidence to Change Practice⁠

Neurodivergence can be a superpower if supported appropriately. In fact, 40-50% of founders are neurodivergent, indicating its potential for creativity and innovation. However, many are held back by the challenges that come with it. Steph Hamill is solving this problem as the Co-Founder of Divergence Supplements. Their lead product, Gamma Focus, is the first natural superblend specifically formulated to support the needs of divergent minds. Steph began her career in marketing, business development, and innovation. She now exclusively applies this expertise to making a social impact, such as in her role as senior entrepreneur-in-residence and MBA faculty for Oneday, an EdTech accelerator that supports entrepreneurs in launching and scaling their businesses. She has personally mentored over 250 founders. Steph was also the first investor for Mettle - the first mental fitness toolkit for men - which featured on MindTech as our very first episode. In this episode, we discuss: Steph’s personal experience of being treated for neurodivergence, which gave her the insight to create a thriving business in this space Redefining neurodivergence and unleashing its advantages Facilitating community with conversational AI Steph is currently writing a book on neurodivergent entrepreneurs. So, if you are a neurodivergent entrepreneur, you can reach out to Steph on LinkedIn. Access the MindTech Matrix - the first map of mental health technology startups organised by the problem they’re solving and the solution they’re building. Discover insights & tools for your mind at ⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠

In children, existing treatments for depression are effective in only 60% of cases. After treatment, 50 - 75% experience a relapse. Why are these outcomes so poor? And how can we make progress? In this episode, we answer these questions and discuss: 3 overlooked factors contributing to young people’s mental health How parents can better support their children through mental health challenges How to measure DSM-5 outcomes in fewer questions for young people Peter Templeton founded The William Templeton Foundation for Young People’s Mental Health (YPMH) - a charitable foundation working to improve the lives of young people by facilitating innovation to resolve mental health conditions. On June 19th 2024, YPMH are co-hosting ‘Collaborate to innovate: Working together to transform mental health outcomes’ at the University of Cambridge. Each session is relevant to MindTech, but the one I am most looking forward to is the middle session on evaluating and prioritising innovations. Learn more and buy tickets here. Access the MindTech Matrix - the first map of mental health technology startups organised by the problem they’re solving and the solution they’re building. Discover insights & tools for your mind at ⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠

Clare Kennedy Purvis is a Stanford-trained clinical psychologist who has applied her understanding of the mind to building digital mental health interventions all throughout her career, including as the: VP of Clinical Product & Content Development at Headspace Clinical Product Lead in the Mental Health Centre of Excellence at Google Head of Clinic Product at Lantern Chief Product Officer at Mindcure Clare is also the Founder of WELL - a business leadership community for women clinicians and scientists in digital health. In this episode, we discuss: How Headspace relieves acute distress (painkiller effect) and then guides users towards a long-term preventative approach (vitamin effect) Aligning value-based outcomes with payment models Clare’s bold bet on the next opportunity for innovation in MindTech See where Headspace fits into the MindTech Matrix - the first map of mental health technology startups organised by the problem they’re solving and the solution they’re building. Discover insights & tools for your mind at ⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠

Modelling the brain as a biological computer?! Dr Rick Adams is a Consultant Psychiatrist, widely published researcher, and a Future Leaders Fellow in the UCL Department of Computer Science and Division of Psychiatry. Rick is a leader in the field of Computational Psychiatry, a discipline applying computational methods to understanding psychiatric problems. He completed a PhD in this niche, and now runs a Computational Psychiatry Lab at UCL. There aren’t many people in the world more qualified to discuss the potential for computational tools to transform mental health. In this episode, we will cover: How we can model the brain as a biological computer The barriers to overcome in translating computational theory into clinical practice The technology that could be adopted immediately into his psychiatry clinic Learn more about Rick's work on UCL's website. Subscribe to MindTech's email list for access to the MindTech Matrix - the first map of mental health technology startups organised by the problem they’re solving and the solution they’re building. Discover insights & tools for your mind at ⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠

Are we creating technologies that support: Connection or division? Addiction or isolation? Mindfulness or distraction? Wisdom Ventures support a new generation of companies that do the former, in a world where technology has often achieved the latter. After 25+ years at Google, Microsoft, and Cisco, Ruchika Sikri is accelerating the growth of mindfulness, compassion, and wellness platforms as a Partner at Wisdom Ventures. In this episode, we discuss: The value of Emotional Intelligence for VCs Enterprise Sales as a gateway to Direct-to-Consumer Sales The advantages of targeting narrow user groups Emerging trends in wellbeing technology Learn more about Wisdom Ventures on their website. Subscribe to MindTech's email list for access to the MindTech Matrix - the first map of mental health technology startups organised by the problem they’re solving and the solution they’re building. Discover insights & tools for your mind at ⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠

How can we use technology as a bridge, not a barrier, to human connection? Dr Mark Cox is a Co-Founder of Lumi, a startup that answers this question by using technology to help families reconnect through a blend of digital and real-world experiences. Mark is an NHS Doctor with 5 years of clinical experience, currently working part-time in A&E while he builds Lumi. Listen to learn: The importance of family support in managing child mental health How to use technology to get people off technology How MindTech could be integrated in schools (not just hospitals) Learn more about Lumi on their website. Subscribe to MindTech's email list for access to the MindTech Matrix - the first map of mental health technology startups organised by the problem they’re solving and the solution they’re building. Discover insights & tools for your mind at ⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠

How do we close the gap between intention and action? A key problem for anyone trying to change behavior for the better. Aline Holzwarth invests her brainpower in solving this problem, earning many impressive stripes as an applied behavioral scientist along the way, such as:  Behavioral Science Lead in the Health AI team at Apple Head of Behavioral Science at Pattern Health - a digital health platform motivating patients to engage with their care Principal of the Centre for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University - where she redesigned systems to help people make better health decisions Today, she and her team run Nuance - harnessing the best of behavioral science to achieve scalable behavior change in all the digital products they develop. Listen to learn Aline’s take on: The most effective incentives that mental health apps can give their users to achieve lasting behavior change How to leverage a user’s intrinsic motivation to close the gap between intention and action The 3 behavioral science concepts most relevant to MindTech Learn more about Aline on her website. Subscribe to MindTech's email list for access to the MindTech Matrix - the first map of mental health technology startups organized by the problem they’re solving and the solution they’re building. Discover insights & tools for your mind at ⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠

Dr-Julian is a startup taking on what the legendary investor Paul Graham would describe as ‘Schlep blindness’, which refers to the tendency to overlook significant yet unglamorous problems (Schleps) because they don’t offer the immediate gratification of simpler, more straightforward challenges. In mental health, one of these important yet tedious problems is the long waiting lists for people seeking therapy. Dr Julian Nesbitt, the founder of the Dr. Julian online healthcare platform, has taken on this problem when many others have shied away from the complexity, and systems-wide change that is needed to solve it. Instead of inventing any new way to diagnose or treat mental illness, the Dr-Julian platform simply leverages existing technology to make accessing a therapist more efficient, data-driven, and accessible by making the whole process digital. However, the most impressive thing about the Dr-Julian platform is the execution. Julian has managed to do what so many find impossible: penetrating and scaling in the NHS. In this episode, you’ll hear how Julian presented his platform as a ‘no-brainer’ for the NHS to buy into, where the bottlenecks in mental healthcare lie, and his thoughts on naming his platform after himself! The Dr-Julian Platform also offers a range of clinically-validated self-help tools and resources. Access these for free by creating an account on app.dr-Julian.com or from the App Store. Visit the ⁠Dr-Julian website to learn more. Subscribe to MindTech's email list for access to the MindTech Matrix - the first map of mental health technology startups organised by the problem they’re solving and the solution they’re building. Discover insights & tools for your mind at ⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠ Created & Hosted by Manu Sidhu, MD.

Startups led by founders who have lived through the very experiences that they later come to solve hold a special place in all our hearts. Mind Data is a bright example of this. Sean Ruane, the Founder and CEO, overcame suicidal depression after eventually having therapy. Now, Sean dedicates his life to helping others gain insight into their mind and access the support they need by leveraging the power of data analytics.  Listen to learn: - how Sean is building the service that he needed - the advantages of his business model - Mind Data’s plans to understand a user’s mental state without any input needed Visit the Mind Data website to learn more Subscribe to MindTech's email list for access to the MindTech Matrix Discover insights & tools for your mind at ⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠ Created & Hosted by ⁠Manu Sidhu, MD⁠

Instead of trying to build one almighty app to improve our wellbeing, Professor Calvo has chosen to focus his efforts on making wellbeing a priority in every technology. As the Director of the Wellbeing Technologies Lab at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, Co-lead for Imperial College London of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, and the co-author of Positive Computing, Professor Calvo is as qualified as anyone to speak on the potential for technology to nurture wellbeing and unleash human potential. Some of the most stimulating work I do is advising Professor Calvo's lab on how to ensure their mental health innovations are clinically-valid, need-led, and patient-centred. In this episode, you will get to peak under the hood of the Wellbeing Technologies Lab and learn how we can build digital environments that support our basic psychological needs. Professor Calvo also shares why he has chosen to make his contribution to mental health technology as a professor rather than as an entrepreneur, and he outlines his views on problems in mental health that have not yet been solved - indicating where the opportunities for innovation lie. Visit the Positive Computing website to find details about the lab, book, and resources on how to prioritise wellbeing in every technology. Subscribe here and ⁠on YouTube Discover insights & tools for your mind at ⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠ Created & Hosted by ⁠Manu Sidhu, MD⁠

Games capture our attention like nothing else. Immersed within a world and on a mission, we are engaged and entertained - but can games also train us to develop a healthier mind? AnimaSelf seeks to answer this question with a resounding YES with an app that makes mental health fun with games and activities that each deliver a specific form of therapy. Dr Frank Thornton-Wood, the Co-founder and CEO, explains how mental healthcare in its current form is mostly reactive, meaning people only get help when they’ve deteriorated. AnimaSelf focuses on helping people think better, feel better, and grow better to prevent mental health deterioration.  This episode is especially unique because Frank and I were in the same year at medical school, so it was great to catch-up and discover the gap in the market that he and his team are working to fill. To sign up for early access and testing, visit AnimaSelf. Subscribe here and ⁠on YouTube. Discover insights & tools for your mind at ⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠⁠ Created & Hosted by ⁠Manu Sidhu, MD⁠

Spirituality is often thought of as a mystical philosophy reserved for hippies and fortune-tellers. The PATH exists to change this and make spiritual health relevant to us all by helping people work through the deeper questions in life and discover their own beliefs and values. Danny Sanchez (formerly at Facebook/Meta) is building the world’s first spiritual health platform as the Founder and CEO of The PATH. In this day and age, we find it harder and harder to understand our spiritual needs and nurture our spiritual health. When you learn what Danny and his team are up to, you may feel the same way I did, excited for an app that makes spirituality practical in the modern world.  Listen to learn how spirituality can be made so clear through data. To sign up for early access and testing, visit The Path. Subscribe here and on YouTube. Discover insights & tools for your mind at The Mind, Explored. Created & Hosted by Manu Sidhu, MD.

Min Lee is the Co-founder and CEO of Humin - an app that helps you better understand your mood using data collected from your smartphone and smartwatch. These devices collect a wealth of data about us, and Humin organises all that to give you insight into your mind. In her teenage years, Min suffered from an eating disorder, which now serves as fuel for her mission to improve mental health with Humin. To find out how to sign up for testing, visit Humin. Subscribe here and ⁠on YouTube⁠. Read insights & tools for your mind on ⁠⁠The Mind, Explored.⁠ Hosted by ⁠Manu Sidhu, MD.

Michel Birnbaum is the Co-founder and CEO of Mindsigns Health™: a cloud-based platform that assesses brain health with two AI-enabled products: 1) NeuroBrowser™ - automatically interprets EEGs for the brain 2) GenMind™ - monitors mental health from smartphone data I have had the privilege of being an advisor to Mindsigns Health since 2022, and it has been an honour to contribute to such a technologically advanced product that improves access to and quality of care. Michel has developed the ‘Lab to Market’ curriculum at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Centre. In this episode, he explains these principles, and how he has implemented them at Mindsigns Health. Visit Mindsigns Health™ Subscribe here and on YouTube. Read insights & tools for your mind on ⁠The Mind, Explored. Hosted by Manu Sidhu, MD

Neil Smith is the co-founder and CEO of Mettle - the first mental fitness toolkit made just for men. Neil has co-founded Mettle with the legendary survivalist and adventurer Bear Grylls, with many more stars in their team. Their mission is to enable men to optimise their performance in all aspects of their life by creating a digital home for men’s mental fitness. Mettle launched in November 2023, just a few weeks before our conversation, and the insights so far are fascinating. Neil explains why men need a mental fitness app made just for them, and how the masculine energy gives men permission to use the app without any stigma. Visit Mettle. Subscribe here and on YouTube. Read insights & tools for your mind at The Mind, Explored. Hosted by ⁠Manu Sidhu, MD⁠⁠