Colleagues,

We are excited to announce the co-leads for the Children’s Pediatric Technology Center (PTC) at Georgia Tech’s Patient-Centered Care Delivery (Pillar 2) work: John Constantino, MD, and Munmun De Choudhury, PhD.

John Constantino, MD, is the Chief of Behavioral and Mental Health and Liz and Frank Blake Chair for Children’s Behavioral and Mental Health at Children’s; Vice Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Pediatrics, and Genetics at Emory University; and Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Morehouse School of Medicine. He is a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of behavioral and mental health conditions of children and adolescents. He seeks to innovate behavioral health practice, resolve fragmentation in the delivery of care, enhance access to interventions of proven benefit, and improve long-term mental health outcomes for children and adolescents throughout Georgia.

While at the Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. Constantino developed a clinical and scientific program focused on understanding genetic and environmental influences on disorders of social development in childhood and their implications for treatment and preventive intervention. His Social Developmental Studies Laboratory was continuously federally funded for 25 years by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As one of the leading child psychiatrists in the country, Dr. Constantino’s holistic approach to mental health has had an industry-wide impact, and his published research is some of the most highly cited in the field.

Munmun De Choudhury, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, where she directs the Social Dynamics and Well-Being Laboratory. Her work has led to significant advancements in the development of computational tools and techniques for early detection, intervention, and support in mental health care, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations across academia, industry, and public health sectors.

Dr. De Choudhury is considered a leading national and international voice in digital mental health. She has been recognized with a number of awards, including the 2023 SIGCHI Societal Impact Award. In 2024, she was inducted into the SIGCHI Academy, one of the highest recognitions from the Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction. Beyond significant academic impact, Dr. De Choudhury has collaborated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on suicide prevention, supported mental health and gun control advocacy non-profit organizations, and contributed to a consensus report by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on the impact of social media on the wellbeing of young people. Dr. De Choudhury was an invited contributor to the Office of U.S. Surgeon General's 2023 Advisory on The Healing Effects of Social Connection and to New York Governor Kathy Hochul's initiative on improving youth mental health services in the state. She currently serves as a member of the Technical Advisory Group of the Commission for Social Connection at the World Health Organization.

The Children’s PTC at Georgia Tech brings clinical experts from Children’s together with Georgia Tech scientists and engineers to develop technological solutions to problems in the health and care of children. Work is organized under three pillars and Drs. Constantino and De Choudhury will co-lead Pillar 2, which is focused on Patient-Centered Care Delivery (the other two pillars are Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Science and Technologies and Devices). We announced co-leads for the work in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Science in July and will announce co-leads for Technologies and Devices soon.

As we welcome Dr. Constantino and Dr. De Choudhury to their new roles as Pillar 2 co-leads, we thank Matt Hawkins, MD, and Nicoleta Serban, PhD, for their leadership during the visionary development of this Pillar. We appreciate their enthusiasm and expertise, and we look forward to working with Dr. Constantino and Dr. De Choudhury in this new capacity.

Sincerely,