Projects

In partnership with the Institute of Personalized Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Center for Digital Health released a digital BioMe Biobank called eBioMe. The study advances research using an electronic informed consent platform while simultaneously recruiting participants for the BioMe Biobank. We, working closely with Mount Sinai’s EPIC and MyChart teams, created a web platform that allows for the online recruitment, consenting and enrollment of participants in the program as well as automation of parts of the study protocol.

The purpose of this study is to illustrate the feasibility, benefits and challenges of an electronic informed consent platform as a strategy for recruitment and enrollment.

In collaboration with Arizona State University (ASU) and University of Southern California, the Center for Digital Health was awarded a four-year, NIH Pediatric Research using Integrated Sensor Monitoring Systems (PRISMS): Sensor Development Projects for Asthma (U01) grant. For this study, prototype smart sensors and wearable devices-- developed by the ASU investigators—were integrated with Mount Sinai’s Asthma Health App. The wristband integrates with the user’s phone via blue-tooth and provides environmental and air quality data such as temperature, humidity, and ozone and small particulate levels. A modified version of the Asthma Health App was created for this U01 study, and Center for Digital Health partner Sage Bionetworks provided a new study database leveraging their backend Bridge data services to collect and store data from the study’s mobile components. The results of the study could help patients better understand how the environment and physical activity affect their asthma symptoms—leading to a modification in behavior and preparation and control of potential triggers.

In 2015, the Center for Digital Health, in conjunction with Sage Bionetworks, and the Respiratory Institute at Mount Sinai,lead the pioneering application of Apple’s ResearchKit technology with the release of the Asthma Health App. The Asthma Health App was downloaded over 48,000 times and enrolled over 10,000 participants from across the United States into the Asthma Mobile Health Study. The platform enabled prospective collection of longitudinal, multidimensional data (e.g., surveys, devices, geolocation, air quality) remotely through mobile phones. The Asthma Mobile Health Study finished in December 2016 resulting in several publications and ongoing data analysis for future papers. The study demonstrated the value and utility of leveraging smarpthones and citizen science for clinical research.