HARMONY 2026

HARMONY (Human-centered AI Research for Mental health, an Open Networking sYmposium) is a pioneering interdisciplinary event dedicated to advancing Human-centered AI Research for Mental Health, co-located with IEEE/ACM Conference on Connected Health: Applications, Systems, and Engineering Technologies (CHASE 2026) held in Pittsburgh, August 6, 2026. Addressing this complex and urgent topic demands expertise across a wide range of domains. As mental health challenges continue to escalate globally, we must break down disciplinary silos to enable groundbreaking discoveries and innovative, impactful solutions for the future of humanity.

HARMONY brings together researchers and practitioners from fields including—but not limited to— Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Psychology, Psychiatry, Behavioral Science, Anthropology, Philosophy, Social Science, and Neuroscience. If you are passionate about improving human wellbeing, have bold ideas, or seek collaborators beyond your field, HARMONY offers a unique opportunity to build interdisciplinary partnerships that can drive real-world change.

Time and Location?

Pittsburgh, United States, August 6 (tentative), 2026, co-located with IEEE/ACM CHASE 2026.

Who Should Attend?

HARMONY is designed for researchers and practitioners who wish to:

• Connect across disciplines and meet collaborators outside their usual circles.
• Exchange visionary ideas beyond the mainstream.
• Tackle real-world challenges through research, practice, and open discussion.

HARMONY’s format blends academic presentations with interactive sessions, small-group networking, and cross-sector panels. Together, we will explore HARD problems, generate fresh insights, and co-create a roadmap for future work.

At the close of the symposium, participants may be invited to collaborate on a Shared Report — distilling lessons learned, emerging opportunities, and a collective vision — so the conversation continues well beyond Pittsburgh in 2026.

Topics of Interest

We invite contributions on a broad range of topics at the intersection of AI and mental health, including (but not limited to) the following. Please refer to each track for its specific focus.

Special Note for Non-Computing Experts:

Even if your current research in mental health does not yet involve AI, you are still eligible (and encouraged!) to submit. Submissions should articulate a high-level vision for how AI technologies could enhance your work (no technical details needed), including the mental health challenges that could be addressed through AI and the types of computing experts you aim to collaborate with. As long as this vision is outlined, your submission will be considered within the scope of the HARMONY Workshop.

Example Topics in Scope:

• Preventive self-care (e.g., meditation training or other educational tools before symptoms emerge)
• Sustaining long-term positive engagement with digital interventions (e.g., incentives for behavior change)
• Public perceptions of the future of AI (e.g., fear, anxiety, attachment to AI personalities or relational AI tools)
• Neuroplasticity and neuroscience-inspired mental health solutions
• Contemplative AI and Wise AI
• AI education and digital literacy for diverse populations
• Methods to evaluate or test AI’s own mental health
• Digital addiction and overuse (e.g., social media, news consumption, AI assistants)
• Evidence-based interventions with AI-aided capabilities (e.g., technology-enabled Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs)
• Truly personalized, context-aware digital interventions on mental health (e.g., adaptive to life stages or transitions)
• Legal, ethical, and policy considerations (e.g., AI technology and policy change)
• Equity and access in AI-driven healthcare (e.g., addressing disparities and avoiding “rich-get-richer” dynamics)
• Community building with deep, meaningful connections in the age of AI
• Translating research to practice (e.g., case studies)

HARMONY Team

The HARMONY organizing team consisted entirely of the amazing Computing Innovation Fellows (CIFellows). The CIFellows 2020 program was launched by the Computing Research Association (CRA) and the Computing Community Consortium (CCC), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. The HARMONY team is here to help! :)

For general questions about the HARMONY workshop, please contact the General Chairs:

• Yixue Zhao: yixue [the symbol you know] yixuezhao.com
• Yi Ding: yiding [the symbol you know] purdue.edu

For questions about a particular track such as submission questions, please contact the Program Chairs for each track:

• Rafal Kocielnik (Practice Track): rafal.kocielnik [the symbol you know] cshs.org
• Amir Ghasemian (Research Track): amirgh [the symbol you know] ucla.edu

Research Track

The HARMONY Workshop invites submissions to its Research Track focused on advancing Human-centered AI Research for Mental Health. HARMONY is an interdisciplinary forum designed not only to present results, but to discuss emerging ideas, challenge assumptions, and foster deep cross-disciplinary dialogue.

We explicitly encourage submissions that prioritize novel insights, bold vision, and integration across fields, even if the work is early-stage, conceptual, or exploratory.

---

Submission Link

Submit your high-quality work here: https://harmony26.hotcrp.com/

Scope and Goals

Mental health is a complex, human-centered problem that cannot be addressed by any single discipline. The goal of the HARMONY Research Track is to:

• Spark meaningful discussion rather than polished conclusions
• Highlight how the field is evolving and where it should go next
• Foster new collaborations across traditionally siloed communities

We welcome contributions that raise important questions, propose new perspectives, foster interdisciplinary collaborations, or outline future research directions.

---

Topics of Interest

We invite submissions on topics including, but not limited to:

• AI-augmented assessment and intervention — Computational methods for detecting, monitoring, or supporting mental health
• AI’s impact on mental health — Effects of recommender systems, algorithms, and platform design on user wellbeing
• Auditing and accountability — Evaluating AI systems for psychological and behavioral harms
• Theoretical and conceptual frameworks — Models for understanding human-AI interaction in therapeutic or wellness contexts
• Fairness, equity, and safety — Addressing bias, ensuring equitable access, and safeguarding vulnerable populations
• Ethics, governance, and policy — Legal, regulatory, and societal considerations for AI in mental health
• Evaluation and methodology — Developing rigorous approaches to assess AI-driven mental health tools
• Interdisciplinary bridges — E.g., AI × neuroscience × psychology, or technology × lived experience × policy
• Speculative and visionary work — Forward-looking perspectives on contemplative AI, neuroplasticity-inspired solutions, or the future of AI and wellbeing

Submissions that integrate multiple domains are especially welcome.

---

Review Criteria

Submissions will be evaluated based on:

• Relevance to human-centered AI and mental health
• Significance of the problem in the era of rapidly advancing AI
• Clarity and originality of ideas
• Discussion potential — capacity to stimulate dialogue and collaboration
• Interdisciplinary value — integrative insight across fields

We emphasize thoughtfulness and impact over completeness or scale.

---

Submission Information

Type	Description	Length
Research Paper	Novel methods, frameworks, analyses, or perspectives	Up to 6 pages (including references and all other content)
Extended Abstract	Preliminary ideas, work-in-progress, discussion proposals, or vision abstracts spanning multiple research threads	1 page (non-archival) (excluding figures and references)

Formatting: Research Papers and Extended Abstracts must follow the IEEE conference proceedings format, consistent with the formatting and submission guidelines of CHASE 2026, except for the page limit.

Anonymity: This track uses double-blind review. Please remove all author-identifying information from submissions.

---

Presentation and Participation

Accepted submissions will be presented at the HARMONY workshop. Accepted Papers (not Abstract) will appear in the CHASE 2026 proceedings. The Best Paper Award will be selected among the accepted Papers.

Authors should be prepared to actively engage in discussion-oriented sessions and networking activities. HARMONY is designed as a community-building space. Contributors are encouraged to view their submissions as conversation starters rather than final statements.

---

Questions?

For inquiries about the Research Track, please contact the Program Chair:

Amir Ghasemian
University of California, Los Angeles
amirgh [at] ucla.edu

Practice Track

The HARMONY Workshop invites submissions to its Practice Track, which complements the Research Track by focusing on real-world applications, deployment experiences, and lessons learned at the intersection of AI and mental health.

This track is designed for industry, startups, nonprofits, healthcare organizations, philanthropists, funding agencies, public-sector entities, and translational research teams who are actively working to bring ideas out of the lab and into people’s lives.

The goal is simple and ambitious: connect people across sectors who are motivated to solve the same mental health challenges through concrete action.

Submission Link

Submit your high-quality work here: https://harmony26.hotcrp.com/

Scope and Goals

While research advances understanding, impact ultimately depends on execution. The HARMONY Practice Track aims to:

• Surface down-to-earth, real-world experiences deploying AI-enabled mental health solutions
• Share practical challenges, failures, and lessons learned in implementation
• Highlight pathways from research to products, services, programs, and policy
• Foster cross-sector collaboration among those building, deploying, and sustaining solutions

Inspired by translational initiatives such as ARPA-H, this track emphasizes actionable insights, best practices, and scalable impact, including early efforts to plant seeds for commercial products, public programs, or sustainable interventions.

Examples of Accepted Submissions

We welcome contributions around various aspects related to practice, including (but not limited to):

• Case Studies

  • Real-world deployments or pilot studies
  • Mature real-world products to demo and share the pathways for practical adoption
  • What worked, what didn’t, and why
  • Pathways from research to commercialization or large-scale real-world impact
  • Accepted in Practice Paper format

• Lessons Learned / Failure Reports

  • Candid reflections on challenges such as adoption, trust, regulation, data, incentives, or sustainability
  • Lessons learned on balancing profits and good hearts
  • Insights that others can learn from and build upon to bring research to the real world
  • Accepted in Practice Paper format

• Translational & Product-Oriented Work

  • Early-stage products, services, or platforms targeting real users
  • Mature products and success stories
  • Product lifecycles from the lab to the real world
  • Accepted in Practice Paper format

• Work-in-progress

  • Early concepts, prototypes, field studies, or implementation concepts (not yet tested or deployed)
  • Initial stages (e.g., requirement gathering, needs identification) with a conceptual vision for later stages
  • Accepted in Extended Abstract format

• Philanthropy & Funding Opportunities

  • Philanthropists and funding agencies aiming to support impactful, interdisciplinary projects beyond the mainstream
  • Current funding opportunities and available resources
  • Future opportunities and connections that can bring promising ideas into real-world impact to uplift humanity
  • Accepted in Resource Sharing Papers format

Topics of Interest

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:

• Measuring real-world impact beyond academic metrics
• Deploying AI-driven mental health tools in real-world settings
• Bridging research, regulation, and market realities
• User trust, engagement, and long-term adoption
• Fundraising strategies and funding opportunities
• Working with clinicians, communities, or underserved populations
• Scaling interventions responsibly and ethically
• Translational pathways
• Public–private partnerships and ecosystem building

Presentation and Participation

Accepted contributions will be presented in interactive, discussion-oriented formats designed to encourage cross-sector exchange and networking.

The Practice Track is intentionally structured to help participants:

• Find collaborators across industry, academia, government, and nonprofits
• Share grounded insights that accelerate real-world impact
• Build momentum toward deployable, scalable, practical solutions
• Identify promising teams and initiatives for potential investment

Submission Information

We accept three types of submissions:

1. Practice Papers (up to 6 pages, included in CHASE proceedings)
2. Extended Abstracts (1 page, non-archival) - may describe early-stage work or work in progress. Limited to one page, plus references
3. Resource Sharing Papers (up to 3 pages, open format, non-archival) - e.g., funding pathways, partnerships, and connections that enable real-world impact. Please note that this is not a venue for public funding calls, but rather a space for resource sharing with long-term value aimed at attracting mutual interests and fostering sustained collaboration. You may cite public funding calls, but the long-term vision should be described beyond public funding calls. The goal is long-term relationship building.

Practice Papers and Extended Abstracts must follow the same formatting and submission guidelines as CHASE 2026, except for the page limit. Resource Sharing papers are accepted in an open format. The Best Paper Award will be selected among the accepted Papers.

• Paper length: Practice Papers up to 6 pages (including references and appendices; Extended Abstracts up to 1 page (+references); Resource Sharing up to 3 pages in open format.
• Author identity: This track is single blind. Please include author identities in the submissions.
• Scope: Practice-focused contributions emphasizing real-world experience, implementation, and impact. Early-stage efforts and translational work are welcome.
• Review criteria: Practical relevance, clarity of lessons learned, real-world impact potential, cross-sector value, and ability to stimulate discussion.
• Publication: Accepted Practice Papers will be included in the CHASE proceedings. Accepted Resource Sharing Papers will be invited for oral presentation, but the paper will not be included in the CHASE 2026 proceedings.

Any Questions?

For inquiries, please contact the Practice Track Chair:

Rafal Kocielnik
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
rafal.kocielnik [at] cshs.org