New APA partnership with the FDA brings psychology expertise to digital health technology development and policy

The APA Office of Health Care Innovation is pleased to announce that APA is now a partner organization in the Food and Drug Administration’s Network of Experts programopens in new window and subsidiary Network of Digital Health Expertsopens in new window. This partnership creates an exciting opportunity for APA members to provide the FDA with expertise on a wide range of topics, including digital mental health.

As the only behavioral health organization participating in the program, APA brings unique and essential expertise to the initiative. Its member scientists and clinicians will be called upon to supplement existing knowledge within the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) and the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). This collaboration will better enable the FDA to streamline the resolution of issues, complaints, or the evaluation of complex medical devices, and it will ensure behavioral expertise is appropriately considered in those efforts.

To match member psychologists quickly and efficiently with FDA calls for expertise, APA has developed a database of members willing to take advantage of this opportunity. APA is seeking member psychologists with expertise in the following areas:

• artificial intelligence
• wearables
• digital therapeutics
• real-world evidence
• cybersecurity
• psychometrician expertise related to incorporating patient input into regulatory submissions
• computerized behavioral therapy and other digital health therapeutic devices

Expertise is also sought for psychiatric conditions including:

• obsessive compulsive disorder
• generalized anxiety disorder
• insomnia
• major depressive disorder
• substance use disorder
• posttraumatic stress disorder
• autism spectrum disorder
• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Participating experts may be tapped for such areas as pre- and postmarket issues, clinical care, and new and evolving developments in digital health.

If you are an APA member and have expertise in any of the areas listed above or in other areas that may be of interest to the FDA’s CDRH and CDER, APA strongly encourages you to sign up to be included in the network:

Join the Network of Expertsopens in new window

When the FDA places a call for experts to help answer questions that arise during the course of their work, APA will determine which specific fields of psychological research and/or practice are best suited to respond and will contact its member experts accordingly. APA will then notify the FDA about the availability of volunteers and help facilitate the match. Once matched, member experts will engage with FDA employees directly through teleconference to discuss the specifics of a project. Selected member experts will be providing services to the FDA on a gratuitous basis. Neither the APA nor the FDA will provide any compensation.

For more information about the FDA’s Network of Experts program, please visit the Network of Experts Program: Connecting the FDA with External Expertiseopens in new window webpage.