Dr Alison Darcy

UCD Alumni Award in Social Sciences 2023

BA 1999 (Psychology), MLitt 2005 (Psychology), PhD 2007 (Psychology)

Dr Alison Darcy is Founder and President of Woebot Health. She is a clinical research psychologist and health tech visionary dedicated to creating intelligent, engaging and relatable mental healthcare solutions that improve outcomes.

Her work to explore how digital treatments can help solve human problems began more than 20 years ago, when she created one of the first online support groups for people with eating disorders. That work led to PhD level studies in psychology at UCD and post-doctoral training at Stanford School of Medicine and with the American Psychiatric Association. At Stanford, Alison also worked with AI pioneer Andrew Ng to explore the intersection of AI and healthcare, leading his Health Innovation Lab in Computer Science.

Alison has authored more than 40 publications and been awarded research grants and contracts from the NIH, the Davis Foundation and APA. She is also currently an Adjunct Faculty member in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department of Stanford’s School of Medicine. Alison holds a PhD, an MLitt and a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from UCD. In September 2023, Alison was named to the prestigious 2023 TIME100 AI list, an honour that recognizes the 100 most influential individuals who are advancing conversations about how AI is reshaping the world.