Arnhold Institute for Global Health

Design and Informatics

The Design and Informatics team are informaticists, software engineers, social scientists, and designers that support global health research by building digital and analog health solutions with our global partners.

This multidisciplinary team functions as consultants to and collaborators with the researchers at the Arnhold Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The team combines health information--technology, data science, computer science, and human-centered design--to develop and systematize solutions for global health practice, research, and learning. The team seeks to assist those on the front lines of health care research and delivery around the world by imagining, building, testing, and implementing human-centered products, services, and systems. The processes and tools the team develops emphasize high quality health data, analytics, equity, efficacy, access, and effectiveness. 

The diverse staff offer expertise in qualitative research, service and product design, strategic technologies, project planning, and operationalization, user experience, graphic design and communications, systems analysis, software development, behavioral economics, and design for social innovation.

Design and Informatics engagements range from small focused tasks to large-scale projects from conception and planning through development, and implementation.

Projects

Design and Informatics has developed innovative responses for the Institute’s international and domestic global health research projects. 

Recent Design and Informatics projects have resulted in:

  • Guides and protocols for health clinic communications, processes, and operations improvement
  • Enhanced patient engagement resources to address challenges experienced by people with multiple chronic conditions
  • A low-cost data analytics and visualization platform for front line managers and workers
  • Data science tools to analyze the quality of global health program reporting data 
  • Software and public health communications resources for the fight against COVID-19, 
  • An interactive text-based patient education and engagement system for use by people without access to costly cell phones or reliable wireless connectivity  

Currently, Design and Informatics is developing a knowledge exchange platform for global pandemic, epidemic, and public health crisis information collection, sharing, and evaluation.