My Trainee Experience in Mental Health Research: Robert Xiao
During my two co-op terms from May to December 2022, I worked with Dr. Maslej on a project examining the impact of using machine learning to enhance the assessment of challenging patient behaviours in acute psychiatric care, such as violence or aggression. I’ve helped with integrating, cleansing, and processing several CAMH’s Electronic Health Records datasets and have built a functioning predictive model to identify potential inpatient violence based on predictors like age, diagnosis, and DASA scores.
"My time at CAMH has not only sharpened my technical skills in terms of data analytics and visualization but also allowed me to witness the transformative power of data science in a multidisciplinary setting." I keep saying this to all the interviewers when introducing what I have learned from my internship during the past job-hunting season, but it’s way more than that. Frankly, with a purely computing technology background, working in a mental health hospital was not something I initially expected, but it turned out to be an experience that I really cherish. I chose computer science as my major partly because of my misconception about the term ’computer science’ – now I finally have my dream fulfilled, to use computers to do some science, to contribute another step towards health care equality, to not only just writing code but also make a real impact to society. This would not be such a meaningful journey without the guidance and support of Dr. Marta Maslej, Dr. Laura Sikstrom, Dr. Juveria Zaheer, Zoe Findlay, and all the other amazing people on the team.
As for my two cents on AI in mental health, my other work at CAMH involves transforming current datasets with a uniform medical information standard. With the blossoming of large language models, I think what we can expect in the future is a globally standard, transparent LLM-powered knowledge base, where data and knowledge can be easily shared and queried for research and clinical purposes. Then, other AI tools "can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns associated with mental health issues, enabling timely intervention and support for individuals at risk, helping to prevent the escalation of mental health issues and improving overall outcomes. Additionally, AI can assist mental health professionals in providing personalized and data-driven treatment plans for individuals, enhancing the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions", says ChatGPT.
