Blanca Bolea-Alamanac, MD, PHD

With the rise of mental health problems, there is an urgent need to develop new and effective methods to meet the growing demand for care. How do we meet this demand while maintaining quality and accessibility of mental healthcare? How can we escalate novel ways of working to best serve our patients? What technologies can be used to reduce these gaps? How can we effectively diagnose and treat patients with complex comorbidities?

Dr. Bolea’s focus is on leveraging technology to enhance mental healthcare and bridge the gaps in traditional methods of diagnosis and treatment. By using digital solutions such as ecological momentary assessments, wearables, virtual reality and other innovative approaches, real-time data can be gathered to provide tailored interventions that are more effective and personalized for each patient. Dr. Bolea has extensive experience in psychopharmacology, psychiatric epidemiology, and biological markers of psychiatric illness. She is particularly interested in improving the diagnosis and treatment of complex psychiatric disorders, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their associated comorbidities.

Currently, Dr. Bolea is directing the SCOPE Mental Health Program at Women’s College Hospital, where she is exploring the use of collaborative healthcare models to address gaps in psychiatric care. As an innovation fellow at Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV), she is piloting the use of ecological momentary assessments for the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD and other comorbidities, which involves collecting real-time data on symptoms and mood using mobile devices. As a scientific advisor she has been involved in several evaluations of apps focused on mental healthcare and as a Member of the ECNP Digital Network she is developing consensus guidelines for the development and evaluation of digital therapeutics. Her background on psychiatric epidemiology informs her research with a view of working towards scalability and spread of innovative interventions.