Research & Innovation

AI Chatbot for Performance Anxiety (Therabot-PA)

Led by student-athlete Julia Pye in the Jacobson Lab, this study adapts Therabot, a chatbot originally built and clinically tested for depression and anxiety, for a sport-specific use: helping competitive rock climbers manage performance anxiety. Climbers face a unique version of this challenge, balancing real physical risk with the mental demands of performing under pressure, and up to half report anxiety symptoms that can affect both their performance and their safety. The study recruits climbers with lived experience of performance anxiety to help shape the chatbot's content, then tracks how participants respond to and engage with it over four weeks.

Athletic Performance Nutrition & Fueling Survey

Led by Dr. Susan Roberts (Geisel School of Medicine), with Duncan Simpson (Teevens Center), Liz Fusco (Dartmouth Athletics) and Punam Keller (Tuck) as collaborators, this survey asks Division I student-athletes how they fuel, hydrate, and recover before, during, and after training. Responses are anonymous, take about 15-20 minutes, and directly shape the Center's thinking on future nutrition programming and food offerings for athletes.