Dr. Tom Insel
Psychiatrist, Neuroscientist, Former Director of the National Institute of Mental Health
Dr. Tom Insel is a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and national leader in mental health research, policy, and technology. He served as Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) from 2002 to 2015, where he led the United States' largest federal mental health research organization and helped shape the modern scientific agenda for psychiatric research.
Following his tenure at NIMH, Dr. Insel joined Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences), where he led the Mental Health team focused on applying data science and technology to psychiatric care. Since then, he has co-founded multiple mental health startups, including Mindstrong Health, Humanest Care, NeuraWell Therapeutics, Vanna Health, and AdvocateMH, reflecting a sustained focus on translating mental health research into scalable digital and clinical solutions.
Dr. Insel has also held leadership roles in public and nonprofit mental health systems, including serving as Chair of the Steinberg Institute and as Special Advisor for Behavioral Health to Governor Gavin Newsom. He currently serves on the boards of Fountain House and the Peterson Health Technology Institute, contributing to national efforts to improve mental health care delivery and innovation.
He is the author of Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health (2022), which examines the gap between psychiatric science and real-world mental health care, and outlines a vision for more integrated, technology-enabled systems of care.
Explore their work
Leadership of the National Institute of Mental Health (2002–2015)
Directed the United States' leading federal agency for mental health research and launched the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, which reshaped how psychiatric disorders are classified and studied across neurobiology and behavior.
Toward the future of psychiatric diagnosis: the seven pillars of RDoC
Toward a new understanding of mental illness
TED Talk, 2013.
A widely viewed talk reframing mental disorders as treatable conditions of the brain, and arguing for earlier detection and intervention.
Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health
Penguin Random House, 2022.
A book examining the gap between psychiatric science and real-world care, built around his "three Ps" — people, place, and purpose — and a vision for system-level reform.
Digital mental health and care-system innovation (Verily and startups, 2015–present)
Led mental health work at Verily applying data science to psychiatric measurement, then co-founded a series of companies — including Mindstrong, Vanna Health, and NeuraWell Therapeutics — focused on scaling measurement-based mental health care.
