Ya-Wen (Yama) Chang

Ya-Wen (Yama) Chang

PhD Student in Quantitative Biomedical Science

Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, Dartmouth College

Introduction

I’m a first-year PhD student in Quantitative Biomedical Sciences (QBS) at Dartmouth College, mentored by Dr. Nicholas Jacobson in the Artificial Intelligence and Mental Health: Innovation in Technology Guided Healthcare (AIM HIGH) Lab at the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health.

My research focuses on leveraging passive sensing, wearable devices, large language models (LLMs), and just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI) to deliver personalized support when it’s most needed. I’m particularly interested in integrating multimodal behavioral data with LLMs, optimizing the timing of interventions, and ensuring clinical safety in AI-driven systems. I’m also deeply interested in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics for mental illness and how to support sustainable well-being after treatment.

Before starting my PhD, I earned a master’s in clinical psychology from Columbia University and worked as a data scientist at the Lab for Scalable Mental Health. My work focused on using digital, single-session interventions to expand access to care for marginalized populations, including LGBTQ+ and BIPOC individuals.

Interests

  • digital mental health interventions
  • maching learning and deep learning
  • large language models
  • passive sensing/wearables
  • psychedelics research

Education

  • PhD in Quantitative Biomedical Science

    Dartmouth College

  • MA in Clinical Psychology

    Columbia University

  • BA in Economics

    National Taiwan University

Skills

Find my data science projects and reproducible scripts on my GitHub

R

100%

Python

90%

SQL

85%

Statistical Analysis

100%

Machine Learning

90%

Data Visualization

100%

Research Projects

*
All Machine Learning Digital Mental Health LGBTQ+ Health Peer-reviewed Publications

Time-Series Prediction of Change in Depressive Symptoms

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.

Digital Interventions for Rural Adolescents

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.

Structural Stigma and Digital Intervention

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).

Childhood Trauma and Onset of Suicidal Attempt

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.

Suicidal Ideation Trajectories - A Latent Profile Analysis

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.

Structural Stigma and Suicidal Thoughts and Behavior

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.

Computational Psychiatry

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.

Health Inequalities and Suicide Risk - A Systematic Review

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)

Transgender Identity Development and Minority Stress

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)

Publications

Manuscripts Published/Accepted

*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. (2024). “Too Much Trouble”: Transgender and Nonbinary People’s Experiences of Stigmatization and Stigma Avoidance in the Workplace. Work and Occupations https://doi.org/10.1177/073088842412687

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

Manuscripts Under Review

Chang, Y., Sotomayor, I., Szkody, E., Fox, K., & Schleider, J. L. (under review). Effectiveness of an online single-session minority stress intervention: No evidence for variation by structural stigma or social support.

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.

Manuscripts In Preparation

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.

Chang, Y., Jackman, K., Dworkin, J., Singh, A., LeBlanc, A., & Bockting, W. (In Preparation). Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Identity Development among a Diverse Transgender Community Sample in the United States.

Conference Presentations


Conference Presentations

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

  1. 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/

  2. 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.

  3. 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/

  4. 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

  5. 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/

  6. 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/

  7. 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).

  8. 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/

  9. 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.

  10. 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/

  11. 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)

Honor & Awards


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

Open Access Resources

Data Science in R

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.

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