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Call for papers - Digital biomarkers and their use in psychiatric research and care

Guest Editors

Alex Leow, MD, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Laura Orsolini, MD, MSc, Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy

Submission Status: Open   |   Submission Deadline: 12 December 2024

BMC Psychiatry is interested in publishing cutting-edge research on the use of digital biomarkers in psychiatric research and care, exploring their potential for personalized interventions, remote monitoring, and preventive strategies. We welcome submissions that investigate the clinical validation, ethical considerations, and regulatory aspects of utilizing digital biomarkers in mental health settings, with the aim of advancing the integration of technology into psychiatric research and care.


New Content ItemThis Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Alex Leow, MD, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

Dr Alex Leow is a Professor in Psychiatry, Biomedical Engineering, and Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an attending physician at the University of Illinois Hospital. Co-founder of the Computational Neuroimaging and Connected Technology lab, Dr Leow leads the BiAffect study, the first crowd-sourced iPhone study that turns smartphones into “brain fitness trackers” using naturalistic smartphone keyboard typing metadata (i.e., not what you type but how you type it). Dr Leow and her research have been extensively featured in the news, including the Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press news, Rolling Stone, NBC News, IEEE EMBS society, NPR All Things Considered, FreeThink, and TEDxChicago.

Laura Orsolini, MD, MSc, Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy

Dr Laura Orsolini is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Experimental and Clinical Neurosciences at the Polytechnic University of Marche. Her main research interests include novel psychoactive substances, new addictions (e.g., web-based psychopathologies, behavioral addictions), youth mental health, digital psychiatry, and psychopharmacology.

Dr Orsolini serves as the Secretary of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) section on Digital Psychiatry, Committee Member of the EPA section on Addictive Behaviours, Board Member for the International Society for Addiction Medicine's New Professionals Exploration, Training & Education committee, among others. She also serves as an Editorial Board Member for BMC Psychiatry.

About the Collection

BMC Psychiatry welcomes submissions to our Collection on Digital biomarkers and their use in psychiatric research care.

Digital biomarkers have emerged as a promising avenue for revolutionizing psychiatric research and care, offering new opportunities for remote monitoring, personalized interventions, and preventive strategies. This Collection gathers research exploring the use of digital devices and data analytics, including speech and text analysis, heart rate variability, and online activity as potential digital biomarkers in psychiatry. We invite submissions that investigate the clinical validation, ethical considerations, and regulatory aspects of utilizing digital biomarkers in mental health settings.

It is important for us to advance our collective understanding of digital biomarkers in psychiatric research and care to harness the potential of technology for improving mental health outcomes. Recent advances in this area have demonstrated the feasibility of using digital biomarkers for early detection of psychiatric symptoms, monitoring treatment response, and providing personalized interventions. Furthermore, research has highlighted the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in analyzing digital biomarkers to enhance diagnostic accuracy and treatment planning.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

  • Digital biomarkers for specific psychiatric disorders (e.g., depression, mood disorders)
  • Digital biomarkers for early intervention in psychiatric disorders
  • Digital biomarkers for predicting treatment response
  • Clinical validation of digital biomarkers
  • Ethical and regulatory considerations
  • Personalized and preventive care using digital biomarkers
  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning in digital biomarker analysis
  • Protocols for integrating digital biomarkers into psychiatric care

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing.


Image credit: Microgen / Stock.adobe.com

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Digital biomarkers and their use in psychiatric research and care" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.