NECBHN Annual Conference 2026

Tom lnsel, M.D., a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, has been a national leader in mental health research, policy, and technology. From 2002-2015, Dr. Insel served as Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). More recently (2015 – 2017), he led the Mental Health Team at Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences) in South San Francisco, CA. In 2017, he co-founded Mindstrong Health, a Silicon Valley start-up building tools for people with serious mental illness. 

Dr. Insel co-founded Vanna Health in 2022 and currently serves as Executive Chair. Vanna Health is focused on the needs of people with serious mental illness and works with community partners to provide the 3 Ps (people, place, and purpose) for recovery. In 2020, he co-founded Humanest Care, a therapeutic online community for recovery. Since May of 2019, Dr. Insel has been a special advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom and Chair of the Board of the Steinberg Institute in Sacramento, California. He is the author of the book Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health, published by Penguin Random House. With journalist co-founders, he recently launched MindSite News (mindsitenews.org), a non-profit digital publication focused on mental health issues. Dr. Insel is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has received numerous national and international awards, including honorary degrees in the U.S. and Europe.

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Session 1 - Big Ideas: Workforce Innovation

‍ In this series of rapid-fire talks, leading thinkers on the behavioral health workforce share ideas for how we can deliver more care and meet children’s needs with the workforce we have.

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Speakers:

-        Laura Bond, PhD, MA, Senior Program Manager, Mental Health for All Lab, Harvard Medical School

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-        Jennifer B Freeman, PhD, Director, Pediatric Anxiety Research Center (PARC), Associate Director of Research, Bradley Hospital

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-        Elizabeth Morrison, Co-Creator of LCA, CEO, Flourish Counselor

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Session 2- Panel: What Do We Mean by Workforce?

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This panel will provide an overview of data on the children’s behavioral health workforce in New England, focused on the priorities of behavioral health workforce centers around New England. grounding the discussion for the day in an understanding of what we know (and don’t know) about the workforce we have and the workforce we might need in future. 

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-        Amy Doyle, MSW, MPH, Director, Massachusetts Health Policy Commission

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-        Aleece Kelly, MPP, Director of System Development Policy, Child Health and Development Institute

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Lunch & Network & Exhibit

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Session 3 - Panel: How Is Technology Changing the Workforce?

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This panel will feature 5 ten-minute, rapid-fire examples of how technology has been successfully integrated to augment and extend the children’s behavioral health workforce across New England. Speakers will be encouraged to cover: the basics of technology; the process of integration; the impact on the existing workforce; and likely next steps.

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-        Craig Lund, Co-Founder, CEO, Mightier

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-        Hafeezah Muhammed, CEO, Backpack Healthcare

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-        Juliana Chen, CMO, Cartwheel- TBC

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-        John Brownstein, SVP & Chief Innovation Officer, Boston Children’s- TBC

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-        Moderator- Jason Lang, PhD, Chief Program Officer, Child Health and Development Institute

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Session 4 - Debate - Are We Changing Fast Enough?

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This debate will sum up the themes of the conference, by bringing together leaders to debate whether pediatric health care is changing quickly enough in response to dual financial and technological pressures.

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