Nina Vasan

About Nina Vasan

Mental illness is the greatest thief of human potential today. I’m working to reclaim that potential by shaping the future of mental health for patients, organizations, and the digital platforms that influence billions.🫶 I’m a Harvard and Stanford-trained psychiatrist and Stanford Medical School faculty, where I am the Founder and Director of Brainstorm: The Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation. Whether I’m supporting an executive in their mental health journey or guiding a company in building psychologically safe technologies, my mission is the same: to make mental well-being not an afterthought, but a foundation for how we care, lead, and build.‍ In my private practice, I specialize in concierge psychiatry for world-class leaders. With an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, I\'m uniquely able to support executives in navigating the complex psychological demands of leadership, helping them thrive both personally and professionally. I advise global platforms on building tools that protect mental health and digital well-being at scale. These tools offer a blueprint for building emotionally intelligent technology that doesn’t just work, but cares:• Pinterest’s Compassionate Search: Supporting 500M+ users, distributed to 20+ countries• TikTok: Healthy screen-time tools seen by millions• ML Commons: The first mental health safety benchmarks for large language models (LLMs)• Dove Self-Esteem Project and Real Beauty Prompt Playbook: Setting new industry standards for digital representation• Stanford Social Media Safety Plan (Stanford SMS): Featured in The New York Times• Stanford GenAI Psychological Safety Plan (Stanford GPS): A roadmap for emotionally safe and ethically sound engagement Highlights:• Former Chief Medical Officer at Real, a startup reimagining mental health care by providing on-demand digital services for under $1/day• Advisor to the UN, WHO, and two US presidential campaigns• Scientific Advisor to NGOs including The Tupac Shakur Foundation, The Kevin Love Fund, and Common Sense Media• Founded the American Psychiatric Association’s Psychiatry Innovation Lab• Co-author of Do Good Well, an Amazon #1 bestseller on leadership and social change• Corporate speaker and media contributor featured in the NYT, WSJ, Fortune, Vogue, TODAY, Armchair Expert, GOOP with Gwyneth Paltrow, and more d•••••••@stanford.edu | Currently accepting select executive patients, tech collaborations, and speaking engagements.

Experience

1. Faculty Affiliate

   Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)

   May 2021 — Present

   My new favorite place to hang out on campus.

Education

• Harvard University

  AB, Government

• Harvard Medical School

  Doctor of Medicine (MD)

• Stanford University Graduate School of Business

  Master of Business Administration (MBA)