Collaborations across research and industry are essential to getting the best evidence-based care to the greatest number of people. But they can also be tricky: researchers and industry professionals are often motivated by different incentives, goals, and timelines.
To shed light on these challenges, the University of Virginia’s Thriving Youth in a Digital Environment initiative (UVA TYDE) and the Society for Behavioral Medicine’s ICC are organizing the 2026 Digital Health Summer Speaker Series: virtual lunch-hour conversations on the key themes shaping digital mental health.
For our second conversation, Dr. Nicole Currivan and Dr. Robin Anthony-Kouyate shared elements of a successful partnership and how innovative health interventions can move beyond the research phase and thrive in real-world settings.
Dr. Currivan spent a decade turning research into real-world health products at UPMC Health Plan — where she managed the first digital CBT program in the U.S.—and recently advised the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) on national mental health strategy. She spoke on how interventions can survive in the real world, share how researchers can find their place in the multidisciplinary digital health ecosystem, explain why academic and industry objectives diverge, and offer concrete strategies for breaking into industry and being easy to partner with.
Dr. Anthony-Kouyate is an applied social and behavioral scientist with over 20 years of experience designing and evaluating human-centered interventions across technology, healthcare, and nonprofit sectors. She specializes in translating behavioral research into practical strategies that drive digital health adoption, AI-enabled healthcare innovation, and patient engagement. Her work integrates behavioral science and human-centered design to ensure digital interventions are both evidence-based and feasible in real-world practice.
Watch the webinar recording here.
