What’s Happening at the Lab

The over 40 signatories and advisors to the Inspired Internet Pledge will convene virtually, from across the globe, to discuss successes, challenges, and lessons learned from the first year of the Pledge and to plan for an even greater impact and reach in 2025.

The Digital Wellness Lab will hold the final “Discussions on Digital Wellness” of the calendar year, highlighting our most recent research about young people and AI.

Dr. David Bickham, Research Director, and Cori Stott, Executive Director at the Lab will be attending and presenting at the FOSI Annual Conference, “From Protection to Empowerment”.

Cori will be moderating a morning panel titled “Online to Offline: Empowering Users to Safely Navigate Digital Spaces,” featuring speakers from Uber, Snap, and the National Network to End Domestic Violence. David will be speaking about parenting in an AI world, along with speakers from Amazon.

Learn more

This conference focuses on body image, eating behaviors, and overall health in the Caribbean and will feature presentations by a number of Lab team members and Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine colleagues, including:

• Dr. Keneisha Sinclair-McBride presenting a plenary session titled “Black Girl Magic and Digital Wellness in the Influencer Age”
• Dr. Michael Rich with a plenary session titled “The Good, the Bad, and the Cringey: Interactive Media and the Teen Years”
• Dr. Melissa Freizinger leading a workshop titled “But You Don’t Look Like You Have an Eating Disorder! An Examination of Atypical Anorexia”
• Drs. Areej Hassan, Jessica Addison, and Candice Mazon with a workshop on “2024 Contraception Update and Supporting Adolescent and Young Adult Reproductive Autonomy”

Learn more and register for in person or virtual attendance

Dr. Michael Rich will be presenting his perspective on the impacts media has on mental and physical health stemming from his work in the Clinic for Interactive Media and Internet Disorders (CIMAID). He will also be discussing the Digital Wellness Lab’s Pulse Surveys on Adolescent Media Use and the ways our research helps to shape the work done in clinical settings.

The 13th Annual Advancing Integration of Care Conference, co-produced by Atrius Health and Boston Children’s Hospital, dives into a variety of topics necessary for primary care clinicians to integrate into their regular practice. Dr. Michael Rich will be closing out the two-day conference with his presentation on “Social Media’s Impact on Children,” sharing insights from his experiences working in the Clinic for Interactive Media and Internet Disorders (CIMAID).

The Lab’s Librarian Kaitlin Tiches and Clinical Research Specialist Nicole Powell will be joining the Boston Children’s Hospital’s Office of Community Health Grantees meeting to share the latest research and best practices in supporting young people’s balanced and healthy use of technology and media and to hear from the grantees about the challenges and successes they are experiencing in the field.

The Children’s Foundation of Mississippi produces the Chat About Children video interview series to support practitioners in accessing the information and resources they need to provide for the wellbeing of children in Mississippi and around the nation. Dr. Michael Rich is joining Executive Director Dr. Linda Southward to discuss healthy engagement with technology and interactive media and to share about the Digital Wellness Lab’s resources and research. Learn more

The Metro-North Transition Task Force is a community of educators, state agencies, and adult service professionals in Massachusetts united to promote awareness and improve outcomes for youth with special needs transitioning out of the public education system. Dr. Mike Tsappis will meet with the Task Force to share best practices and guidance on supporting balanced and productive technology use in education and addressing young people’s negative use and/or overuse of technology.