In this episode of Neural Compass, Jacob Effron, Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures, joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein to explore where AI is already delivering real value in healthcare—and where hype still outpaces reality. Drawing on his experience at Flatiron Health and as an investor across AI, enterprise software, and healthcare, Jacob discusses why healthcare has become one of the fastest-adopting AI verticals, how real-world data actually creates value, and why tools that reduce clinician burden can unlock entirely new patient experiences.

They cover:

• Why healthcare has emerged as a leading AI adoption vertical
• Lessons from Flatiron Health on real-world data and evidence
• What makes ambient clinical documentation a true “wedge” product
• How AI can empower patients—not just clinicians
• What separates generational health tech companies from short-lived hype

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, psychologist, writer, and internet favorite Adam Mastroianni joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein for a wide-ranging conversation about conversation itself. Drawing from experimental psychology, improv, and lived experience with anxiety and depression, Adam explores why good conversations feel rare, why science struggles to study the most important questions, and why mental health progress may require ideas that don’t fit into academic boxes. Along the way, he reflects on leaving academia, rethinking peer review, and what happens when you try to tell the truth instead of writing for journals.

They cover:

• Why great conversations rely on “doorknobs,” not just questions
• How anxiety, status, and speed shape the way we talk to each other
• What’s broken in modern science—and why legibility can be the enemy of discovery
• Why therapy works even when we don’t fully understand how
• How imagining that “things could be better” fuels both progress and dissatisfaction

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, Dr. Harry Ritter, founder and CEO of Alma, joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein to explore how technology, insurance alignment, and new business models can unlock better mental health care at scale. Drawing on his experience as a physician, lawyer, and former Oscar Health executive, Harry explains why behavioral health has lagged in tech adoption, how the pandemic permanently reshaped care delivery, and why empowering independent clinicians may be the fastest path to access, quality, and sustainability.

They cover:

- Why behavioral health remained tech-averse for so long—and what changed

- How Alma helps thousands of independent therapists accept insurance and scale

- The hidden systems failures between payers, providers, and patients

- Where AI can remove administrative burden without replacing clinicians

- Why mental health may be the most powerful lever for preventive care

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, Harvard neuroscientist and psychiatrist Dr. Nikos Daskalakis joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein to unpack the biology of stress and PTSD. Drawing on decades of research spanning animal models, post-mortem human brain studies, and cutting-edge multi-omics, Dr. Daskalakis explains how genetics, early life stress, and later trauma interact to shape vulnerability, resilience, and mental health outcomes. The conversation explores how glucocorticoid signaling, immune–brain communication, and cell-type-specific transcriptional changes complicate our understanding of PTSD—and why simple, one-size-fits-all treatments continue to fall short.

They cover:

* The “three-hit” model of stress: genetics, early life experience, and adult trauma

* Why cortisol and glucocorticoid signaling matter—but aren’t the whole story

* What single-cell and multi-omic brain studies reveal about PTSD versus depression

* The unresolved question of whether trauma can be biologically transmitted across generations

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, geneticist and entrepreneur Dr. Yaniv Erlich joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein to explore how data science and molecular biology are converging to reshape precision medicine. Dr. Erlich discusses everything from decoding the human genome to stabilizing RNA for next-generation therapeutics. Along the way, he reflects on why psychiatric traits are highly heritable, what twin studies really reveal, and why biotech innovation moves at a very different pace than tech.

They discuss:

- How next-generation sequencing revolutionized the study of information in DNA

- The unexpected link between genealogy databases and personalized medicine

- Why stabilizing RNA could make genetic therapies last longer and work better

- The genetics behind mental health—and what we still don’t understand about it

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, PsyMed Ventures co-founders Greg Kubin and Matias Serebrinsky join Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein to trace their journey from tech founders to frontier investors betting on the brain. They share how personal experiences with therapy and psychedelics reshaped their view of healing, and why the future of mental health may depend on tools that don’t just treat illness—but expand human potential.

They cover:

- How psychedelics opened the door to a new kind of neuroscience investing

- Why the “century of the brain” will blur the lines between treatment and enhancement

- The business and ethical challenges of funding radical innovation

- What flourishing—not just recovery—could look like in the decades ahead

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, Stanford’s Dr. Nick Haber—computer scientist, educator, and co-founder of the Autism Glass Project—joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein to explore how AI is entering some of the most human spaces: learning, emotion, and mental health.

From wearable devices that help children with autism recognize emotion to new research on large language models in therapy, Dr. Haber examines both the promise and the peril of AI that seems to “care.”

They cover:

- How wearable AI helped children with autism connect through emotion recognition

- Why today’s chatbots still miss critical signs of distress—and what that reveals about human empathy

- How AI might train, not replace, the next generation of therapists

- Why the line between assistive and autonomous AI may define the future of care

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

They cover:

- Why physicians—not hospitals or payers—are the key to real health care transformation

- How value-based care forces a shift from rear-view to windshield thinking

- What makes primary care the most underleveraged force in the system

- Why mental health interventions struggle for investment—and how to change that

- The real promise of AI: getting the right care to the right person, at the right time

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, Dr. John Krystal—Chair of Psychiatry at Yale and the scientist whose lab discovered the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine—joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein to explore how novel treatments are reshaping the future of mental health.

They cover:

- The story behind ketamine’s unexpected antidepressant effects

- Why depression may be rooted in the cortex—not just monoamines

- How synaptic regrowth fuels resilience and recovery

- The promise and perils of psychedelics as clinical therapies

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, Dr. Stephanie Eken—Chief Medical Officer at Acadia Healthcare—joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein to talk about what works (and what still doesn’t) in the real-world mental health system.

They cover:

- Why navigating care is still so hard—for patients, families, and even physicians

- The surprising promise of AI and ambient tech in closing the fidelity gap

- What schools, churches, and state fairs have to do with early intervention

- Why loneliness, stigma, and gender norms still shape how (and if) people get care

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

They cover:

- Why Eagleman calls the brain livewired—not “plastic”—and how it constantly reshapes itself

- How neuroplasticity is central to everything from therapy to psychedelics to brain stimulation

- The promise of sensory substitution—from helping deaf individuals “hear” through vibrations to new frontiers in brain–computer interfaces

- The legal and ethical questions raised when brain science meets crime, culpability, and justice

- The future of human–AI interaction—from companion robots to algorithms that could reduce polarization instead of fueling it

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, Steve Duke—founder of the Hemingway Group and author of the must-read Hemingway Report—joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein for a compelling conversation on the present (and future) of behavioral health.

They cover:


- Why the mental health system rewards what’s reimbursable—not necessarily what works


- How AI is already being used for emotional support—and what we aren’t talking about enough


- The trust paradox of conversational agents in mental health


- How loneliness, sleep, and social connection are massively underleveraged interventions


- What the rise of run clubs and cold plunges might teach us about health tech adoption

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

They cover:

- A surprising model that redefines how we understand suicidality

- Why talk therapy often works—but also often fails

- What it takes to bring real innovation into clinical care

- The hidden mental toll of constant digital bombardment

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, Shreya Rajpal—CEO of Guardrails AI and former self-driving systems engineer—joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein to explore the deep tech and deeper questions behind safe, scalable, and human-aligned AI.

They cover:

- What self-driving cars can teach us about LLM reliability

- Why “accuracy” isn’t the right metric anymore

- How simulation testing might be the key to safety at scale

- The puzzle-solving mindset that drives both engineering and leadership

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, Jerry Colonna—CEO of Reboot.io and author of Reboot and Reunion—joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein for a powerful reflection on mental health, emotional resilience, and the inner lives of leaders.

They cover:

- Why “false grit” is hurting founders more than it’s helping

- How to detach your self-worth from your startup’s performance

- The ghosts in the machine—and how to face them

- Why leadership starts with healing

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, Dr. Adam Yala, Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley and UCSF, joins Jimini’s Mark Jacobstein for a deep dive into the future of personalized medicine.

They cover:

- Why traditional cancer screening is too coarse—and how AI can change that

- Building risk prediction models that outperform today’s gold standards

- The challenges (and promise) of applying machine learning in real clinical workflows

- What adaptive trials, synthetic data, and LLM safety have in common

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, host Mark Jacobstein (co-founder and president of Jimini Health) sits down with Yanda Erlich, a four-time founder, longtime AI investor, and general partner at B Capital. They explore what it means to bet on AI before it’s obvious—and how inner work can shape better leaders, companies, and decisions along the way.

Yanda shares the story of investing early in Weights & Biases, lessons from launching one of the first agentic AI startups, and the mental frameworks he uses daily to navigate uncertainty. It’s a rare blend of venture insight and emotional intelligence—rooted in meditation, inquiry, and a belief that the future of AI starts with the people building it.

They cover:

- Why timing and conviction matter more than being first in AI

- The connection between inner work and good decision-making

- How to run inquiry-based mental health practices (yes, even 200 times a day)

- What early AI founders got right—and wrong—before the LLM era

- Reframing emotional struggles as opportunities for learning and insight

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

Dr. Amber Childs, Yale psychologist and expert in adolescent mental health, says measurement-based care isn’t just about numbers—it’s about connection. When done right, it strengthens the therapeutic alliance, empowers patients, and helps clinicians catch what they might otherwise miss.

In episode five of Neural Compass, Dr. Childs shares how we can use data to close equity gaps, personalize treatment, and design systems that actually serve the people in them.

They cover:

- What measurement-based care really looks like in practice

- How Dr. Childs built a tool to reduce clinician burnout and improve outcomes

- Why the future of behavioral health must include caregiver voices

- The entrepreneurial lessons she learned turning a “flip-flop budget” into system-wide change

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In this episode of Neural Compass, host Mark Jacobstein (co-founder and president of Jimini Health) sits down with Jon Tippens, a software engineer, musician, and Jimini patient, to explore how technology is reshaping the way we experience mental health care. Jon shares his deeply personal story as one of the first Jimini patients to go public about his experience—what changed when he started using Sage, Jimini’s AI companion, alongside human therapy, and how that shift transformed his understanding of what “effective therapy” can look like. With humor, insight, and a powerful metaphor from music education, Jon offers a new model: one where real growth comes from daily, meaningful engagement, not just 45 minutes a week.

They cover:

- Why real therapeutic change can happen between sessions—not just during them

- The power of conversational journaling and AI-augmented reflection

- How lowering friction can make mental health care more consistent and effective

- Why it can feel easier to open up to a machine than a person

- A new way to think about therapy as skill-building, not just storytelling

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

They cover:

- Why anxiety isn’t the enemy

- Practical tools for breaking fear-avoidance cycles

- The connection between behavioral activation and success

- How clinical insights apply to leadership, performance, and change

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In our second episode of Neural Compass, we explore one of the most mind-blowing frontiers in health: the connection between belief, biology, and the brain’s role in healing. Host Mark Jacobstein sits down with Dr. Asya Rolls — award-winning neuroscientist and professor of neuroimmunology — to discuss how the placebo effect isn’t just psychological… it’s physiological.

They cover:

- How the brain can activate the immune system

- The neuroscience behind placebo, hope, and healing

- Why the brain may be a key switch for turning on health

- What it means to measure — and harness — the will to get better

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

In our DEBUT episode of Neural Compass, we're kicking things off with a conversation that gets right to the heart of what this show is about — the intersection of AI, clinical care, and the future of mental and behavioral health. Host Mark Jacobstein sits down with Dr. Lyle Ungar — professor at UPenn and expert in machine learning, psychology, and language — to explore how AI is reshaping how we understand and care for the mind.

They cover:


- How language models are being used to pre-screen for depression


- The role of "synthetic friends" and when AI becomes too much of a crutch


- What it takes to move from mental illness to mental flourishing


- The future of AI-human collaboration in therapy

Learn more: jiminihealth.com

We’re charting the future of mental and behavioral health — at the intersection of AI, psychiatry, neuroscience, and real-world clinical care.

Hosted by Jimini’s own Mark Jacobstein, Neural Compass features honest, forward-thinking conversations with the leaders shaping what’s next — from healthcare executives to AI pioneers.

Whether you’re building in this space, investing in it, or navigating it as a decision-maker, this podcast is your guide to the breakthroughs, challenges, and ideas defining the next era of care.

Learn more: jiminihealth.com