School of Information Sciences

New grant to help Multiple Sclerosis patients manage depression

Jessie Chin
Jessie Chin, Associate Professor

Associate Professor Jessie Chin has received a $215,000 grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS grant RFA-2411-44091) for a two-year project to improve how people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) manage depression. 

Depression is a common and serious comorbidity in PwMS, affecting 25.7 percent within a twelve-month period and nearly 50 percent over a lifetime. Despite the numbers being three times higher than the general population, previous studies show  that about two-thirds of PwMS with depression are left untreated. 

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational interviewing (MI) have been shown to be effective for addressing depression and promoting healthy behavior in PwMS, but these methods require trained personnel for phone-based counseling, limiting scalability and accessibility.

For her project, Chin will develop the Depression Regulation chatbot (DRBot), an open-source tool that integrates evidence-based, self-guided CBT with motivational interviewing. The new tool will provide patients with the support they need for their recommended treatment in a single, easy-to-use format. Using natural language conversations, DRBot will guide PwMS through evidence-based strategies for managing depressive symptoms, offering a scalable, generalizable, and sustainable intervention that can be accessed anytime, without the cost and personnel requirements of traditional phone-based counseling.

The DRBot will first be developed and evaluated with PwMS and clinical psychologists to ensure its clinical fidelity and feasibility. Its acceptability and efficacy will then be iteratively refined and validated with a national field study. The project will be administered with her collaborator, Chung-Yi Chiu from the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health. 

According to Chin, the chatbot’s potential extends beyond just convenience. “This study could help scale up our existing evidence-based self-guided CBT tutorial to be available and accessible to more PwMS at no cost upon the completion of the study. This could enhance the mental well-being and depression management for PwMS to receive timely support and health equity.” 

Chin’s research focuses on human-AI interaction, digital health, and health informatics. She holds a PhD in educational psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

PhD students receive scholarships from IAPP

Information Sciences PhD students Mubarak Raji, Eryclis Rodrigues Silva, and Eryue Xu, and Informatics PhD student Muhammad Hussain have received A. Serwin Conference Scholarships from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). The award, which recognizes outstanding students in the areas of privacy, AI governance, and digital responsibility, consists of $1,000 and complimentary conference registration. The IAPP’s annual conference, Privacy. Security. Risk., will be held October 30-31 in San Diego, California.

Perkins defends dissertation

PhD candidate Jana M. Perkins successfully defended her dissertation, "Scholarship writ large: A data-rich analysis of professionalization in English literary scholarship from 1940 to the present."

Jana Perkins

Yu receives 2025 Google PhD Fellowship

PhD student Yaman Yu has been named a recipient of the 2025 Google PhD Fellowship in Privacy, Safety, and Security. The fellowship program recognizes outstanding graduate students who are conducting exceptional and innovative research in computer science and related fields, with a special focus on candidates who seek to influence the future of technology. Google PhD fellowships include tuition and fees, a stipend, and mentorship from a Google Research Mentor for up to two years. Google.org is providing over $10 million to support 255 PhD students across 35 countries and 12 research domains.

Yaman Yu

iSchool researchers to present at ASSETS 2025

iSchool faculty and students will present their research at the 27th International Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group (SIG) ACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2025), which will be held in Denver, Colorado, October 26–29, 2025. This conference allows researchers to present their scholarship on design, evaluation, use, and education related to computing for people with disabilities and older adults.

Chan to give an invited talk on "Predatory Data"

Professor Anita Say Chan will give an invited lecture at the American University of Beirut (AUB) on October 23. The talk, part of the "Confronted with America" series hosted by the Center for American Studies and Research, will be moderated by Jihad Touma, founding director of AUB's School of Computing and Data Sciences.

Anita Say Chan

School of Information Sciences

501 E. Daniel St.

MC-493

Champaign, IL

61820-6211

Voice: (217) 333-3280

Fax: (217) 244-3302

Email: ischool@illinois.edu

Back to top