JERSEY CITY, NJ, JUNE 24, 2026 – As school winds down for summer break, some 350 highschool students ages 14-18 throughout the Jersey City area are heading intovacation equipped with enhanced mental health awareness and ongoing digitalsupport. Through the latest pilot program orchestrated by SciTech Scity’sHealthcare Innovation Engine, these students and their school administratorshave access to a specialized mental wellness platform created in collaborationwith licensed therapists.

The app, Inner Peak, is available 24/7 to build copingskills, strengthen emotional regulation, and access stigma-free support.Students share their challenges and experiences in interactive journals, andget personalized reflection questions and nudges.

Students then receive customized support through realhuman therapist created videos and content. As they identify areas of life theywant to improve on, they receive guided activities based on their individualwellness needs. Through these interactions, students engage with topics likethe neuroscience of stress, behavioral science, and responsible AI use, allwhile gaining practical tools to manage stress in their lives and reduce futuresubstance-misuse risk.

Inner Peak is an Ohio startup launched in 2023 anddedicated to providing affordable, real-time access to mental wellness supportand psychological development for high-school and college students. It wasco-founded by college friends Sean Wheelock and Ben Anandappa.

“At Inner Peak, we believe mental health supportshould be proactive, accessible, and integrated into everyday life – notsomething students only encounter during moments of crisis. Through thispartnership, we're helping young people build practical skills for managingstress, navigating challenges, and developing resilience in ways that meet themwhere they are,” said Sean Wheelock, Co-Founder and CEO of Inner Peak, whofounded the company after experiencing his own struggles with mentalhealth.

Wheelock added, “Our goal is to give students toolsthey can use every day, while helping schools identify opportunities to providesupport earlier and more effectively. I started Inner Peak because I knowfirsthand how difficult it can be to navigate mental health challenges withoutthe right support.”

Innovative dashboards provide school-based mentalhealth professionals visibility into student well-being trends, flagging earlywarning signs, providing insights into student concerns, and connectingstudents in crisis to appropriate resources while notifying staff and emergencycontacts.

Delivered at a fraction of the cost of traditionaltherapy, the pilot program’s organizers hope that the app will prove beneficialto students and administrators alike, ultimately making mental health supportaccessible to even more students.

The need for this type of care is significant.Nationally, one in five high school students have a mental or behavioralcondition while four out of 10 report feelings of sadness and hopelessnessaccording to a 2024 article published by Mental Health America. Perhaps moreconcerning, they found 10 percent of teens reported serious thoughts ofsuicide. And in the New Jersey Department of Education’s 2023 Student HealthSurvey, one in three students in the state reported significant mental healthstruggles, ranging from anxiety to mood and behavioral disorders, withsignificant increases post-pandemic.

“The Healthcare Innovation Engine wasbuilt to close the gap between promising technology and real-world impact,”said Paul Hoffman, President and CEO of Liberty Science Center, theorganization spearheading the development of SciTech Scity. “Structured pilotssuch as this will show how emerging technologies can meaningfully improveoutcomes within the complexity of actual healthcare and social systems – andultimately help successful solutions scale across NJ and the rest of thecountry.”

The Inner Peak pilot is funded through the Jersey CityDepartment of Health & Human Services and the New Jersey State 2026 OpioidSettlement Grant. All participation is fully subsidized and deliveredvirtually, ensuring equitable access.

This new pilot is the latest launched and implementedby the Healthcare Innovation Engine, the first statewide platform fordigital health adoption in the U.S. Launched by Liberty Science Center’sSciTech Scity in February 2024, it was established as a unique public-privatepartnership dedicated to transforming healthcare by accelerating the adoption,reimbursement, and scaling of digital-first care solutions. Recently honoredwith the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Public-Private Collaboration Award, theEngine’s earlier pilots focused on enablingaccess to uninsured patients for cardiovascular health, oncology, post ER-care,and maternal health.

The Healthcare InnovationEngine is supported by a broad coalition of partners: EY, Bristol Myers Squibb, JPMorgan, RWJBarnabasHealth, New Jersey Innovation Institute, Tech Council Ventures, PrincetonUniversity, Nokia Bell Labs, New Jersey Economic Development Authority, NewJersey Department of Human Services, New Jersey Department of Health, andJersey City Department of Health and Human Services.

About Inner Peak

Inner Peak is a digital mental wellness platformfor middle and high school students, delivering trusted, 24/7 support andskill-building at scale to foster psychological growth and strengthen humanconnection. Learn more at innerpeak.ai.

About Liberty ScienceCenter

Liberty Science Center(LSC.org)is a 300,000-square-foot, not-for-profit learning center located in LibertyState Park on the Jersey City bank of the Hudson near the Statue of Liberty.Dedicated to inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers andbringing the power, promise, and pure fun of science and technology to learnersof all ages, Liberty Science Center houses the largest planetarium in theWestern Hemisphere, 12 museum exhibition halls, a live animal collection with110 species, giant aquariums, a 3D theater, live simulcast surgeries, atornado-force wind simulator, K-12 classrooms and labs, and teacher-developmentprograms. More than 280,000 students visit the Science Center each year, andtens of thousands more participate in the Center’s off- site and online programs.Welcoming more than 800,000 visitors annually, LSC is the largest culturalinstitution in New Jersey and the largest interactive science center in theNYC-NJ metropolitan area.

About SciTech Scity & The Healthcare InnovationEngine

Liberty Science Center is developing a “Science Cityof Tomorrow” in Jersey City–a 30-acre innovation campus called SciTech Scitydevoted to using science and technology to address humanity’s greatestchallenges and create a better future for all of us. The new campus, includingthe existing Liberty Science Center, will be officially named the Frank J.Guarini Innovation Campus and start to open in 2026.

Supported by seven Fortune 500 level companies, thenew construction at SciTech Scity will include: Liberty Science Center HighSchool, a world-class public STEM high school; Edge Works, aneight-story business creation center with laboratories, R&D spaces, officesuites, co-working spaces, a tech exhibition gallery, and a state-of-the-artconference center; Aviva Scholars Village residential housing built andoperated by Alpine Residential; and Public Commons, three acres ofoutdoor space for community activations.

The Healthcare InnovationEngine, SciTech Scity’s flagship initiative, is the firststatewide ecosystem in the country to accelerate digital health technologyadoption. Recognized by the World Economic Forum with its 2025 Public-PrivateCollaboration Award, the Engine deploys patient pilots to translate promisingnew technologies into scalable solutions that improve health outcomes, advanceequity, and reduce avoidable costs. Engine partners include public healthofficials, payors, providers, life sciences companies, innovative startups, andpatient and community representatives.

Learn more at SciTechScity.com.