The first Digital Health Workshop aimed at catalyzing advancements in digital health toward cardiovascular and diabetes research that addresses the needs of both adult and pediatric populations was held at Rice University, Houston, on August 29-30, 2023.
Spearheaded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) Precise Advanced Technologies and Health Systems for Underserved Populations (PATHS-UP), this event brought together experts from various fields, including clinicians, engineers, industry leaders, and representatives from government agencies such as NIH, BARDA, and FDA. During the comprehensive day and a half workshop program, leading clinicians shared insights into the latest developments in cardiovascular and diabetes care. Leading engineering faculty unveiled state-of-the-art digital health technologies to revolutionize patient monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment.
The workshop received substantial seed funding support from five institutions – Rice University’s Educational and Research Initiatives for Collaborative Health, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist, and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and PATHS-UP to fund new clinician-engineering teams spurred by meetings at the workshop. We are delighted to announce the Seed Fund Award Winners from the 2023 PATHS-UP Digital Health Workshop. The following ten collaborative research projects will explore new promising directions for advancing digital health solutions.
- Dr. Dino Di Carlo, ULCA; and Dr. Maria Jose Redondo, Baylor College of Medicine:
Transforming Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis: A Cost-Effective Multiplexed Point-of-Care Approach and Digital Health Integration - Dr. Khurram Nasir, Houston Methodist; and Dr. Guha Balakrishnan, Rice University:
Investigating AI-Derived Neighborhood Exposomic Fingerprints as Drivers of Cardiovascular Disease - Dr. Sam Mabbott, Texas A&M University; and Dr. Maria Jose Redondo, Baylor College of Medicine: C-PepTech: Streamlined C-Peptide Diagnostics in the Digital Era
- Dr. Jayer Chung, Baylor College of Medicine; Dr. Akane Sano, Rice University; and Dr. Nidal Moukaddam, Baylor College of Medicine: AI algorithms using digital markers to diagnose and monitor depression in critical limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI)
- Dr. Limei Tian, Texas A&M University; and Dr. Jennette Moreno, Baylor College of Medicine: Development of a novel noninvasive wearable sensor to assess circadian rhythmicity in children and adults
- Dr. Momona Yamagami, Rice University; Dr. Atiya Dhala, Houston Methodist; and Dr. Farzan Sasangohar, Texas A&M University: Enabling Access to Prehab for Kidney Transplant Candidates who are Frail
- Dr. Amir Tofighi Zavareh, Texas A&M University; Dr. Bijan Najafi, Baylor College of Medicine; and Dr. Joseph Mills, Baylor College of Medicine: A non-invasive optical device to rapidly screen for Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)
- Dr. Abishek H. Kansara, Houston Methodist; Dr. Ashutosh Sabharwal, Rice University; Personalized Insulin-to-Carbohydrate Ratio for Individuals with Type 1 Diabetes
- Dr. Erica Soltero, Baylor College of Medicine; and Dr. Farzan Sasangohar, Texas A&M University: Investigating the efficacy of mobile health monitoring and self-care to improve obesity outcomes in Hispanic adolescence populations
- Dr. Soaram Kim, Texas A&M University; Dr. Myeounggon Lee, Baylor College of Medicine; and Bijan Najafi, Baylor College of Medicine: Advanced Real-time Gait Monitoring in Parkinson’s Diseases with IoT Wearable Sensors