In today's issue: apps instead of pills, a review of mHealth texting platforms, and more!
Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have developed a 3D model to replicate the human menstrual cycle. The model, called EVATAR, will help researchers better study conditions like fibroids, endometriosis, and endometrial cancer.
Need to take a pill? There's an app for that — or there could be soon. This article from the MIT Technology Review discusses the future "digital therapeutics," or the replacement of drugs with software.
Startup Spring has raised $1.5 million to commercialize technology developed at the Yale School of Psychiatry that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to best match a patient with an antidepressant. The tool boosts clinicians' confidence in screening patients for depression, and has increased depression screening rates to over 90+ in a pilot study.
A recent scoping review of text messaging platforms for mHealth revealed 14 open-source platforms, 15 that allowed users to design their own messages (no programming required), and found that only 6 of the 27 platforms were mentioned in peer-reviewed publications.
A recent pilot study testing the feasibility of a Facebook-based intervention to support adoption of healthy eating and physical activity habits among people with serious mental illness suggest that Facebook is an acceptable and potentially impactful delivery medium among this population.
Alaskan legislators are looking to bolster telehealth in the state, in an unexpected way. While many states are discussing policy restrictions on telemedicine, House Joint Resolution 14 asks the Federal Communications Commission to increase funds to invest in broadband technology for Alaska, which would help healthcare providers launch better telehealth services.
The American Telemedicine Association recently released new guidelines for the use of telemedicine in stroke treatment and mental health services. Telemedicine is often seen as a way to reach underserved populations in terms of both strokes and mental health, and the ATA guidelines encourage programs to follow an evidence-based practice to ensure the best outcomes.
We are hiring! Duke Digital Health invites applications for a new 2-year post-doctoral fellowship in the area of digital health and obesity. Full job description can be found here and more information about our center can be found here.
Another open position! The Duke ADHD Program invites applications for a new 2-year post-doctoral fellowship in the area of digital health and ADHD. Full job description can be found here and more information about the ADHD program at Duke can be found here.
IntraHealth is hiring a Director of Digital Health. Check out the job description here.
The Health Data Exploration Network is holding its third annual Network Meeting and Data Drive in San Diego on Tuesday 5/2 and Wednesday 5/3. The theme this year is "Representing the Person: Promoting Social Justice in the Use of Personal Health Data." The goal of the meeting is to explore and discuss questions about the ways that personal data represent individuals and populations.
Join Oak City Labs for a free workshop on validating your mobile app idea in the marketplace.
Thank you to those who joined us for this year's mHealth@Duke Conference! We'll post videos and photos from the conference soon!