Dr. Ronald Kessler is the McNeil Family Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. His groundbreaking work on the social determinants of mental health, studied from an epidemiological perspective, has made him the most widely cited psychiatric researcher in the world.  In this wide-ranging conversation, he talks about precision psychiatry's enormous potential and incremental development, delving into his own efforts to better identify at-risk patients and predict treatment efficacy. Dr. Kessler stresses the need for better data and bigger studies, and envisions a future of AI-supported clinicians.

00:00 Introduction
00:53 Dr. Kessler's Journey to Precision Psychiatry
02:45 The Importance of Data
04:14 Risk Factors and Treatment Optimization
10:42 Successes and Challenges
13:23 The Importance of Baseline Information
23:46 Machine Learning in Veterans Health
24:27 Determining Suicide Risk
25:35 Interventions and Cost-Effectiveness
26:16 Esketamine Trials and Response Prediction
27:07 Risk Models and Comparative Risk Models
27:15 Insomnia Treatment in Military Personnel
29:36 Cost-Benefit Analyses
35:45 AI in Medicine and Patient Response
42:21 Future of Precision Psychiatry
45:51 Closing Remarks

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Executive Producer: Jon Earle