I am a Data Scientist at the Lab for Scalable Mental Health, working with Jessica Schleider, PhD, and my amazing colleagues at Northwestern University and the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies. I am currently exploring how digital, scalable, and evidence-based interventions (e.g., single-session interventions) can enhance access to mental health care for marginalized populations, such as LGBTQ+ and BIPOC individuals. Over the past couple years, I have honed my expertise at the intersection of data science and digital mental health. Harnessing computational techniques, I aim to leverage large-scale behavioral and language data to extract actionable insights to improve mental health. My goal is to develop accessible, scalable, evidence-based interventions to ameliorate disparities in mental health care. I am also interested in exploring the potential of large language models and artificial intelligence in delivering timely and personalized mental health tools to individuals in need.
View my Data Scientist Portfolio
View my Data Scientist resume
View my Academic CV
PhD in Quantitative Biomedical Science, 2028
Dartmouth College
MA in Clinical Psychology, 2020
Columbia University
BA in Economics, 2012
National Taiwan University
Find my data science projects and reproducible scripts on my GitHub
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In this project, we constructed an ML pipeline that predicted changes in the overall severity of depression symptoms in adolescents with high symptoms over a three-month period. We computed the residuals from a linear regression model, predicting the 3-month depression sum score based on the baseline depression sum score.
Objective Rural teens are less likely to access care for depression than urban teens. Evidence-based digital single-session interventions (SSIs), offered via social media advertisements, may be well-suited to narrowing this gap in treatment access and increasing rural adolescents’ access to support.
In the United States, the experience of minority stress among LGBTQ+ youth varies across regions with high or low levels of stigma (e.g., laws, policies and cultural norms that limit the lives of individuals with stigmatized identities).
Objectives To examine the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and early and late-onset suicidal behavior among depressed older adults. Methods Our sample included 224 adults aged 50+ (M ± SD = 62.
In young and middle-aged adults, suicidal ideation is an important predictor of prospective suicide attempts, but its predictive power in late life remains unclear. In this study, we used Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) in a cohort of depressed older adults to identify distinct ideation profiles and their clinical correlates and test their association with risk of suicidal behavior longitudinally.
Objective To determine how a statewide indicator of structural stigma is associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors among sexual minority (SM) adolescents. Method We examined associations between structural stigma at the state level and suicidal thoughts and behaviors in a nationwide sample of sexual minority adolescents ages 14–18 in the United States (n=489) who completed a cross-sectional online survey in 2018.
Gender diverse individuals (i.e., identifying their gender as different from the sex assigned at birth) demonstrate higher rates of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) compared to other sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations.
Role: Co-Investigator Collaborator: Adrienne Grzenda, M.D., Ph.D. (University of California, Los Angeles), Stefanie Kirchner, MPH (Medizinische Universität Wien), Ping Wang (Autonomous University of Madrid), & Diana E. Clarke, Ph.D (Johns Hopkins University)
Role: First author Collaborator: Kasey B. Jackman (Columbia University), Jordan D. Dworkin (Columbia University), Anneliese A. Singh (Tulane University), Allen J. LeBlanc (San Francisco State University), & Walter O. Bockting (Columbia University)
*Chang, Y., *Schumacher, E., Maheux, A. J., Martino, R. M., Choukas-Bradley, S., Salk, R. H., & Thoma, B. C. (2024). Structural Homophobia and Suicidal Ideation and Behavior Among Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents. Stigma and Health. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000576
*The two first authors contributed equally to this work and should be considered joint first authors.
Paine, E., Abad, M., Barucco, R., Chang, Y., Navalta, T., Ehrhardt, A., & Bockting, W. (in press). “Too Much Trouble”: Transgender and Nonbinary People’s Experiences of Stigmatization and Stigma Avoidance in the Workplace. Work and Occupations
Chang, Y., Buerke, M., Galfalvy, H., & Szanto, K. (2023). Childhood trauma is associated with early-onset but not late-onset suicidal behavior in late-life depression. International Psychogeriatrics, 1-14. doi:10.1017/S1041610223000662
Galfalvy, H., Szücs, A. Chang, Y., Buerke, M., & Szanto, K. (2023). Long-term suicidal ideation profiles in late-life depression and their association with prospective suicide attempt and death by suicide. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36791367/
Szkody, E., Chang, Y. Schleider, J. (2023). Serving the Underserved? Uptake, Effectiveness, and Acceptability of Digital SSIs for Rural American Adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, doi: 10.1080/15374416.2023.2272935
Chang, Y., Jackman, K., Dworkin, J., Singh, A., LeBlanc, A., & Bockting, W. (Under Review). Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Identity Development among a Diverse Transgender Community Sample in the United States.
Sotomayor, I., Chang, Y., Szkody, E., Fox, K., & Schleider, J. L. (Under Review). A Digital, Minority Stress-Focused Single-Session Intervention Benefits Multiply-Minoritized Sexual Minority Adolescents.
Chang, Y., Sotomayor, I., Szkody, E., Fox, K., & Schleider, J. L. (In Preparation). Effectiveness of an Online Single-Session Minority Stress Intervention: Variation by Structural Stigma?
Brown, V., Chang., Y, Galfalvy., H, Gujral., S, Szanto, K., Dombrovski., A (In Preparation). Brain volume reductions in late-life suicide and relationship with depression and cognitive functioning: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study using Bayesian multilevel modeling.
Conference Presentations
Chang, Y., Sotomayor, I., Szkody, E., Fox, K., & Schleider, J. L. (2023, November). Effectiveness of an Online Single-Session Minority Stress Intervention: Variation by Structural Stigma? In Ahuvia, I., & McKetta, S. (Chairs), Price, M. (Discussant), The Role of Structural Stigma in Psychopathology Among Marginalized Youth. Symposium to be presented at the 57th annual meeting of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Seattle, WA.
Sotomayor, I., Chang, Y., Szkody, E., Fox, K., & Schleider, J. L. (2023, November). Intersectionality and a minority stress-based single-session intervention benefit multiply-marginalized LGBTQ+ adolescents. In A.L. Silverman & G. Ramos (Co-Chairs), A. Aguilera (Discussant), Leveraging digital mental health interventions to increase access to care among marginalized racial and ethnic groups. Symposium to be presented at the 57th annual meeting of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Seattle, WA.
Paine, E., Barucco, R., Chang, Y., Navalta, T., Ehrhardt, A., & Bockting, W. (2022, April). “Too Much Trouble”: Transgender and Nonbinary People’s Experiences of Stigma, Discrimination, and Affirmation in the Workplace. Paper presented at 2022 Population Association of Americas annual conference. Atlanta, GA.
Calati, R., Maisto, M., Miranda, R., Thompson, L., Lesanpezeshki, M., Baiden, P., Miller, C., Chang, Y., Wang, P., Grzenda, A., Kirchner, S., & Clarke, D. E. (2021, October) Ethnic discrimination and suicidal thoughts and behaviors: an international-intercontinental collaborative project for a systematic review. In G. Zalsman (Chair), IASR Metanalysis and Systematic Review Workshop Project. Paper presented at the 2021 IASR/AFSP International Summit on Suicide Research.
Poster Presentations
Chang, Y., Brown, V., Whitman, K., Dombrovski, A., & Szanto., K. (2022, April). Hippocampal MRI Volume Differences in Late-Life Suicidal Behavior. Poster presented at the IASR/AFSP International Summit on Suicide Research. Poster accepted at the Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) 2022 Annual Meeting. https://osf.io/v5cr2/
Galfalvy, H., Szücs, A., Buerke, M., Chang, Y., & Szanto, K. (2022, April). Long-term suicidal ideation profiles in late-life depression and their association with prospective suicide attempt and death by suicide. Poster accepted at the Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) 2022 Annual Meeting.
Chang, Y., Bockting, W. (2021, November). Identity Development Trajectories and Childhood Gender Role Nonconformity Among a Gender and Racial Diverse Sample in the United States. Poster presented at 2021 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 55th Annual Convention. New Orleans, LA. https://osf.io/w2shb/
Chang, Y., Brown, V., Whitman, K., Dombrovski, A., Szanto., K. (2021, October). Hippocampal MRI Volume Differences in Late-Life Suicidal Behavior. Poster presenter at 2021 IASR/AFSP International Summit on Suicide Research. Barcelona, Spain. https://osf.io/v5cr2/
*** Nominated as a poster finalist (Top 10) for the early career researcher best poster award
Chang, Y., Galfalvy, H., Buerke, M., Szanto, K. (2021, October). Age of Onset of First Suicidal Behavior Determines Risk Factor Profiles in Older Suicide Attempters – Focus on Childhood Trauma Experiences. Poster presenter at 2021 IASR/AFSP International Summit on Suicide Research. Barcelona, Spain. https://osf.io/xtakn/
Chang, Y., Galfalvy, H., Buerke, M., Szanto, K. (2021, October). The Relationship of Childhood Trauma Experiences with the Age of Onset of First Suicidal Behavior in Late-Life Depression. Poster presenter at 2021 Pitt Psychiatry Research Day and Research Resources Revue. https://osf.io/xtakn/
Chang, Y., & Malgaroli, M. (2021, April). Longitudinal Predictors of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury among Gender Diverse Population: Machine Learning Approaches. Poster presenter at 2021 Diversifying Clinical Psychology Conference, Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (CUDCP).
Chang, Y., & Chen, S. (2020, November). Identifying School-Based Intervention Targets for the Risk of Suicide Attempt Amongst Gender Questioning Youth. Poster at Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 54th Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA. https://osf.io/pbmnt/
Tang, S., & Chang, Y. (2020, August). Mental health disparities among LGBTQ Asian and Pacific islander youth: A cross sectional analysis. Poster presenter at American Psychological Association Convention 2020, Washington, DC.
Chang, Y., Bockting, W. (2020, June). Childhood gender nonconformity and identity development among a diverse transgender community sample in the United States. Poster presenter at Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (JCCAP) Future Directions Forum, Washington, DC. https://osf.io/65fdk/
Chang, Y., Bockting, W. (2020, April). Childhood gender nonconformity and identity development among a diverse transgender community sample in the United States. Poster accepted at Counseling Psychology Conference, New Orleans, LA. (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
2021 Queer in STEM Scholarship ($1250)
oSTEM & Queer in AI
2021 Poster Finalist (Top 10)
2021 IASR/AFSP International Summit on Suicide Research
2021 Awarded A+ in Computational Psychiatry
Teachers College (TC), Columbia University
*Only given in rare circumstances per school policy; awarded for exceptional research project
2019 Program Ambassador, Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology
Teachers College, Columbia University
2019 Graduate Representative Speaker
Teachers College, Columbia University
2019 Psi Chi Psychology Honors Society
Teachers College, Columbia University
2018 Teachers College Scholarship ($2,500, Merit-based)
Teachers College, Columbia University
UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital | Fall 2021
I organized and developed a R workshop with four sessions including introduction to R, data wrangling, data visualization, and data analysis. Each session includes a 10-minute presentation to cover the learning goal and concept of each topic, following by a learning-by-doing module. This workshop aimed to guide everyone with no prior experience in R to feel comfortable with coding and eventually apply R coding skills in research projects. Please find the materials including slides and R scripts on my GitHub. Please feel free to reach out for recordings.