The MD2K Center partnered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to organize a technology showcase at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, where scientists presented mHealth technology and research developed over the past decade. Attended by researchers from academia, government, and industry, the event featured 66 technology demonstrations and posters selected from a pool of nearly 200 applicants.
The NIH began funding mHealth research more than a decade ago, but this was the first time researchers have been given an opportunity to showcase their work. The showcase, held on June 4th, was organized with the goal of exposing researchers to mature mHealth technologies and research that can be readily used by others.
In addition to demonstrations, the event featured two keynote speakers, a panel discussion on mHealth technology, a roundtable on research funding opportunities, and a grant writing workshop.
Keynote speakers included Dr. William Riley, director of the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, and Dr. M. Christopher Gibbons, Chief Innovation Adviser for the Federal Communications Commission and a professor at Johns Hopkins University. The mHealth technology panel, moderated by Riley, featured Dr. Santosh Kumar, University of Memphis; John Wilbanks, Sage Bionetworks; Dr. Gregory Marcus, University of California, San Francisco; and Dr. Deborah Estrin, Cornell Tech.
The MD2K team, which presented five demonstrations and posters, also announced the release of a personal edition of its software platforms, which will enable individuals to become citizen scientists. Anyone can use the MD2K software to collect and make discoveries from their own data.
More information, including links to videos of the keynotes and panel discussion (recorded by NIH) can be found at https://mhealth.md2k.org/mhealth-tech.