GWT

Moin, moin, my name is

Gisbert W. Teepe.

I am a Clinician Scientists.

I investigate digital biomarkers and interventions for subclinical and clinical emotional disorders (e.g., depression) and cognitive impairments. I treat patients at the University Hospital of Old Age Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. I teach at the University of Bern. I consult startups developing digital therapeutics and biomarkers. I present keynotes and participate in panel discussions. I train kickboxing.

About Me

I am a clinical psychologist with a PhD in digital health from the Center of Digital Interventions @ ETH Zürich. Currently, I work as a psychotherapist in training at the University Hospital of Old Age Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (UPD Bern) and as a group lead (Post-Doc) under Prof. Dr. med. Stefan Klöppel at the University of Bern. My research focuses on digital interventions and biomarkers for the prevention, diagnosis, prediction, treatment, and monitoring of mental disorders. My main focus is depression in younger and older populations. To advance the field of mental health, I try to combine my expertise in psychology, computational neuroscience, and digital health. My work aims to improve patient outcomes and adherence, as well as provide countermeasures to the increasing healthcare costs.

In addition to my scientific work, I work with ViViRA — a digital therapeutic reimbursable under the German Healthcare Act — to improve the real-world effectiveness and adherence of treatments for musculoskeletal diseases. In this work, I support the development of an innovative solution that increases patient engagement and health outcomes.

Please reach out if you are interested to connect with me or book me for my expertise regarding the following:

Digital Treatment
Digital Biomarkers
Adherence
Prevention
Panel Discussions
Regulation

Experience

Group Lead (Post-Doc) - University of Bern

October 2023 - present

I am currently working as a group lead under Prof. Dr. med. Stefan Klöppel. In our work, we investigate digital biomarkers and interventions for patients older than 65 years. The primary clinical outcomes of our interventions and biomarkers are the severity and symptoms of depression and cognitive impairments.

Psychotherapist in Training - UPD Bern

October 2020 - present

I am currently working as a psychotherapist in training (CBT) at the University Hospital of Old Age Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, UPD Bern. In my work, I treat all disorders across the psychotherapeutic spectrum with a focus on chronic depression, anxiety disorders, panic disorders, and substance abuse disorders (alcohol).

Doctoral Researcher - ETH Zurich

October 2019 - October 2023

During my employment at the (Center for Digital Health Interventions)[“https://www.c4dhi.org/"] at ETH Zurich, I conceived, planned, and conducted a field waitlist-control study to develop a digital biomarker for symptoms and severity of subclinical depression, anxiety, and stress. We developed and deployed a smartphone app to combine slow-paced breathing training (Breeze), a chatbot (BEDDA), voice commands, and daily actional advice. For the analysis we recruited more than 150 participants. Besides this main study, I planned and conducted various further studies in the field of linguistic big data (N-Gram), systematic reviews (App Store and investment reviews), meta-analysis (physical activity), and digital health (expert commentary) leading to several peer-reviewed publications. Besides my research, I applied for funding from our industry partner CSS health insurance (approx. 90k CHF).

External Research Consultant (part-time) - ViViRA Health Lab GmbH

September 2021 - present

Currently involved in evaluating the effectiveness and adherence of the most prescribed digital therapeutics under the German Digital Health Care Act (DiGA), ViViRA. My work with ViViRA has led to various publications. Responsibilities also include analysis collaboration with the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices and conducting cost evaluations for German public health insurance.

Clinical Psychologist - IFAS

May 2019 - September 2019

At the Institute for Applied Social Questions, I worked as a clinical psychologist with a specific focus on the treatment and care of adolescents with social problems and mental disabilities (according to §§ 27, 34, 35a, 41 SGB VIII and §53ff SGB XII, Germany) in day and night shifts. The provided treatment was in an individual and group setting addressing acute and underlying problems.

Associate - Strategy and Innovation - Horváth

September 2018 - March 2019

For the consulting company Horváth & Partners, I prepared and supported strategy workshops for a project of a major player in Hamburg’s harbour. In addition, I supported a foresight workshop focussing on the future of manufacturing using the scenario technique.

Education

2021 - present

Post-Graduate Training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

apb - Zentrum für Psychotherapie, Konstanz, Germany

Along with my clinical and scientific work, I receive post-graduate training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy at a State-recognized training institute for psychological psychotherapists & child and adolescent psychotherapists. The training aims to obtain a license to practice psychological psychotherapy (Approbation).

2019 - 2023

Doctor of Sciences (Dr. sc. ETH Zurich)

ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

In my dissertation (PhD) — which I wrote at the Center for Digital Health Interventions — I investigated digital biomarkers and interventions for subclinical and clinical depression, by conducting systematic reviews, big linguistic data analysis, controlled experiments, and field studies. My research has been published in peer-reviewed journals.

Visit the CDHI Website

2017 - 2018

Master Thesis Computational Neuroscience

Oxford Foundation for Theoretical Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence, Oxford University, Oxford, GB.

In my master’s thesis, I investigated a computational model of the human brain to understand the neural basis of border ownership neurons. I used a model replicating the visual pathway (starting from V1 to V4) of a monkey that was trained to solve a visual classification task. However, my model was unable to replicate the behaviour of border ownership neurons in the monkey’s brain.

Visit the OFTNAI Website

Bachelor and Master in Psychology

RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.

I completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s in Psychology at the RWTH Aachen University. While studying, I part-time studied computer science and held different student assistant positions in psychology and human-computer interaction.

Projects

Ongoing Clinical Digital

A Digital Biomarker for Symptoms and Severity of Emotional Disorders in Older Adults (65+ years old)

This research explores digital biomarkers in patients over 65 to accurately predict and classify emotional disorder (F32-F33, F41-43) symptoms using voice recordings and smartphone data.

Ongoing Prevention Digital

Preventing Symptom Exacerbation due to Loss Using a Publicly Available Digital Intervention

This research explores the potential of a digital intervention (grievy) to exacerbate symptoms due to prolonged grief after the loss of a loved one. We are currently conducting a field study to evaluate the effectiveness of a publicly available digital intervention.

Website

Ongoing Clinical Digital

A Local LLM for Diagnostic Interviews in Geriatric Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

This research explores the potential of a local LLM to transcribe diagnostic interviews. We are currently conducting a field study to evaluate the effectiveness of a local LLM for diagnostic interviews. The outcome is the judgement of the diagnostic interview by clinical psychologists and psychiatrists (Oberärzte).

Ongoing Prevention Clinical

Impact of Violence on Emergency Medicine Staff's Mental Health

This research explores the change in violence against staff in emergency medicine from 2014 to 2022. We investigate the impact of these incidents on staff's mental health and turnover intention. We aim to understand the causes of these violent incidents and to develop preventive countermeasures.

Ongoing Prevention Digital

Investigating a Nocturnal Cough Digital Biomarker as Triggers for Behaviour

This study evaluates a digital biomarker that counts nocturnal coughs and uses a traffic light system to potentially trigger behavior changes, based on data from two field studies with over 1000 participants.

Website

Ongoing Prevention Digital

On a Journey to Feel a Little Better or BEDDA.

BEDDA is a chatbot that helps you to feel a little better. It is a conversational agent that provides psychoeducation, mood tracking, and a gameful slow-paced breathing training. The intervention aims to improve the prevention of depression by addressing the subclinical range. The primary clinical outcomes are the severity and symptoms of depression.

Website

Gamification slow-paced breathing

Breeze - A Gameful Breathing Training

We created a mobile app that gamifies slow-paced breathing to improve heart health and mental well-being. It uses the phone's microphone for real-time feedback, making it easy and fun, aiming to reach a broader audience without extra equipment.

Website

DiGA Reimbursable

Digital Therapeutics for Musculoskeletal Diseases

ViViRA is a digital therapeutic for unspecific back pain. It is a digital therapeutic for musculoskeletal diseases. The primary clinical outcomes are pain reduction and functional improvements. We are currently evaluating the effectiveness and adherence of the most prescribed digital therapeutics under the German Digital Health Care Act (DiGA).

Website

A potential connection between digitalization, depression, and anxiety.

This research explores the potential connection between digitalization and mental health. We used Google NGram to analyze the frequency of words related to digitalization and mental health in books published between 1970 and 2019.

Paper