David Mohr to Step Down as Director of Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies
November 4, 2025
David C. Mohr, PhD, founder and director of the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITs) within the Institute for Public Health and Medicine, will step down in early 2026.
A national leader in behavioral health technology research, Mohr is also a professor of Preventive Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and will continue supporting CBITs’ cutting-edge research through his faculty role. In addition, Mohr hopes to continue integrating digital mental health into the American healthcare system by improving regulatory and reimbursement mechanisms, a key goal of the Society for Digital Mental Health, an advocacy group that he founded.
“It has been an honor to serve as director of the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies,” said Mohr. “Over the past fourteen years, CBITs has grown into an internationally recognized leader in digital mental health intervention research. I am proud of our multidisciplinary and collaborative faculty, our dedicated staff, and the outstanding students and postdoctoral fellows who have contributed to the Center’s many accomplishments.
I am profoundly grateful to the Feinberg School of Medicine for its steadfast support and to the CBITs community for their commitment, creativity, and shared vision in advancing the science and practice of digital health.”
Since 2011, CBITs has worked to design and implement evidence-based, technology-driven interventions for mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. These digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) use everyday technologies like phones and computers to teach users self-management strategies. Research has shown that such tools can effectively treat common conditions, particularly when paired with low-intensity support from a coach (1, 2, 3, 4).
“As monumental an impact as David has had here at Feinberg, he’s been an even larger force of transformation for the field itself,” said Andrea Graham, PhD, co-director of CBITs and associate professor of Medical Social Sciences. “He’s changed how we think about the science of digital mental health, contributing to the rigor of our clinical trials, reinvigorating our methodologies, and introducing vital disciplines that make this work successful, such as integrating human-computer interaction and implementation science through human-centered design.”
Now entering its fifteenth year, CBITs is expanding its work with online, community-based organizations with the goal of providing additional spaces where people can receive digital mental health services.
“It has been truly a pleasure to collaborate with Dr. Mohr in his role as CBITs’ inaugural director and to witness the Center’s meteoric rise as a globally-recognized leader in innovative digital mental health interventions and research designed to shape policy and practice,” said Ronald Ackermann, MD, MPH, director of the Institute for Public Health and Medicine. “CBITs will remain an important pillar for behavioral health and digital health innovation in IPHAM, and I look forward to supporting the Center’s next director to lead an exciting new chapter in CBITs' history.”
The Institute for Public Health and Medicine will conduct an internal search to identify Mohr’s successor.