The beginning of a new era? Mental health initiatives in low- and middle-income countries

Dr. Ricardo Araya, professor of psychiatry at the University of Bristol, visited Northwestern University on May 21, 2013 to deliver a lecture of mental health interventions in low- and middle-income countries.The event attracted more than 40 attendees and was hosted by Dr. David Mohr and the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, as well as the Center for Global Health, Department of Psychiatry, and Department of Preventive Medicine.

As maternal and child health improves in most part of the world, the transition from communicable diseases to non-communicable, chronic (NCDs) diseases, including common mental illnesses, is on the rise (Global Burden of Disease, 2010). Major funding bodies, including the National Institute for Mental Health, the Wellcome Trust, and Canadian Institute for Health Research have provided ~$100M worth of research for mental health in low- and middle-income income over the past five years to help reduce this burden. This lecture provided a review of Dr. Araya's past, current, and future research projects/randomized controlled trials (RCT) to reduce the burden of mental illness around the world, with a particular emphasis on socially deprived groups.

Dr. Araya discussed both positive and neutral results from studies that he has over 25 years around the world. For example, in Chile, Dr. Araya and colleagues developed a RCT to evaluate stepped care for major depression in primary care (including general support, psychotherapy, and fluoxetine in a stepped manner), which led to 40% improvement (70% vs. 30%) in recovery from depression, which led to the creation of a national stepped care program in Chile, which now treats 600,000 Chileans per year. A neutral study example included the lack of benefit with cognitive behavioral therapy on major depressive symptoms in Santiago schools at 6 months. Dr. Araya also discussed "task sharing" of treatment of depression in pregnant women through home care therapy delivered by trained and auxiliary nurses in Brazil, among other countries. Dr. Araya is working with Dr. David Mohr to incorporate care for depression with perinatal services by building on the previously-successful stepped care model.

Dr. Araya also described the Latin American Technology and Innovation Network in Mental Health, a collaborative with researchers at Northwestern (Dr. Mohr) as well as with researchers in Brazil and Peru. The Network aims "to establish a regional hub for regional mental health research and training addressing the comorbidities of diabetes/hypertension and comorbid depression." Treatment of depression with nurse-based short message servicing (SMS). A range of studies from Lebanon, Nigeria, India, Pakistan were reviewed.

Dr. Araya ended his lecture with summarizing his "lessons learned" through four "E's":

• Equity: more deprived groups tend to have greater room for improvement
• Efficiency: expensive is not always better
• Effectiveness: it is possible to treat depression effectively with limited resources
• Empowerment: engagement and treatment can be mutually reinforcing to empower individuals and communities

CBITs open sources the Purple Robot toolkit for enabling the collection of mobile phone sensor and questionnaire data.

CBITs is pleased to announce that we are making our Purple Robot toolkit available for free under an open source license (GPL) to help other researchers build the next generation of patient-centric mobile experiences. Purple Robot can acquire the full range of sensor data from Android phones (location, accelerometer, application use, etc.), import other data from external sources, and help administer web- and app-based questionnaires to mobile users. Documentation for the system is available at http://tech.cbits.northwestern.edu/purple-robot/ and the application may be installed directly from the Google Play Store (search for “Purple Robot”) or click the link below.



The core component of the toolkit is the Purple Robot Android application that makes available the following capabilities to patient-facing apps:

• A full sensor framework that allows researchers to capture information about the patients’ mobile device and outside surroundings. This information can inform how and when patients interact with the system. The sensor framework takes advantage of hardware sensors on the patient’s mobile device (location, accelerometer, pressure, temperature, and more) as well as software sensors that report which apps the patient is using, their calling patterns and more.
• A built-in web server that allows researchers to use both native and web-based technologies. Purple Robot exposes advanced Android functionality like notification & home-screen widget integration, providing HTML & JavaScript applications the same tools typically only available to Android-native mobile apps.
• A data storage and transmission system designed for intermittent mobile connectivity. Researchers can create and administer mobile questionnaires and other surveys without worrying whether patients have an active network connection at all times.
• A built-in scheduling system that allows researchers to schedule prompts, surveys and other interactions.
• A “private-by-default” design that allows researchers to collect information from patients in a manner that de-identifies any personally-identifiable information using standard cryptographic hashing algorithms.
• A built-in scripting environments using the JavaScript and Scheme programming languages that allow researchers to construct rich interactive experiences that incorporate real-time patient feedback to direct dynamic interactions.

In our work, we are using Purple Robot to build systems that track medication adherence, capture patient moods with surrounding contextual details, monitor patient activity, study healthy sleep patterns and more. This toolkit freed us from the typical constraints of HTML-based systems while avoiding the complexity of writing basic features for each new native app from scratch. Purple Robot simplifies the construction of compelling patient-facing mobile experiences while retaining the advantages of a native app that tightly integrates with patients’ mobile devices.

Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITs)

Inaugurated in September of 2011, the Northwestern University Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies provides a unique home for research and education on Behavioral Intervention Technologies (BITs). BITs are applications that use technologies such as mobile phones, computers, tablets, and sensors to support behaviors that improve health, including mental health.

CBITs is made up of a multidisciplinary group of researchers working in the fields of Engineering, Computer Science, Psychology, Medicine, and Health Services. Although our approaches differ, we share this goal: to improve the understanding of BITs from design to evaluation and from implementation to dissemination. We are not just interested in how existing evidence-based health interventions can be enhanced by technology; we are invested in exploring how tomorrow’s technological advances can fundamentally change the way we understand and intervene in human behavior to improve health and well-being.

In addition to funded research by CBITs faculty, the Center also houses the BIT Development Core, a Feinberg School of Medicine Core Facility that supports researchers in the conceptualization, creation and deployment of BITs. Our in-house engineering team has created Purple, which is the foundation of our behavioral intervention technologies development program. Purple's authorship tools allow investigators to expediently create and manage behavioral interventions. Purple avoids the need to build behavioral technologies from scratch by storing development strategies, as well as researcher and client-side technologies, in a manner that can be re-purposed for new research projects.

Development Core

The BIT Development Core is a Feinberg School of Medicine Core Facility that supports researchers in the conceptualization, creation and deployment of BITs. Our team of technologists, psychologists, and health researchers can help you build and deploy web-based, mobile phone, tablet, and sensor-based behavioral interventions. This includes assisting in the early planning and design of the interventions, programming the interventions, and early alpha testing to ensure technical reliability.

BIT Core Services include:
• Consulation and grant preparation
• Development and deployment of behavioral intervention technologies (BITs)
• Development of technology assisted assessment tools
• Creation of secure data collection methods
• Support for usability testing
• Training and supervision for clinician/coaching protocols

Traditionally, "behavioral intervention technologies" (BITs) are merely technology-supported versions of face to face, evidence-based behavioral interventions. In many cases, existing approaches of envisioning, authoring, and deploying BITs do not effectively leverage the benefits of technology innovation for both the patient and the researcher. At CBITs, we are improving on and redefining this process by creating a BITs development architecture that is the brainchild of both researchers and technologists. Taking into consideration existing software development approaches, the use of human-focused design narratives, evidence-based intervention techniques, and the challenge of data needs in behavioral research, we are offering core development and implementation services to the research and healthcare communities.

Learn more about BIT development from our guide "Create your own BITs" and our past presentations.

For more information on services available, please contact Jenna Duffecy, Ph.D. at 312-503-1900 or
j-duffecy@northwestern.edu.

Presentations

Below are select CBITs presentations on the development of behavioral intervention technologies.

Purple Development Environment for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (BITs) informational session. In this section is the Prezi presentation from the session presented by Mark Begale and Jenna Duffecy, Ph.D.

Society of Behavioral Medicine 2012 Annual Meeting Workshop. In this section, you will find handouts and the Prezi presentation from our workshop at SBM's April 2012 conference.

Create Your Own Bit Checklist. A PDF guide to the early planning and design phases in creating technology-assisted interventions.

‹ Development Core

Research

• Mobile-Phone Interventions

• Web-Based Interventions

• Virtual Humans

• Telephone Therapy

See a table of our research.

View our publications.

Research

PI	Institution	Funder	Title	Technology	Area

Mobile-Phone Interventions

‹ Research

Web-Based Interventions

‹ Research

Virtual Humans

‹ Research

Telephone Therapy

‹ Research

Publications

2013

• Ben-Zeev, D., Kaiser, S. M., Brenner, C. J., Begale, M., Duffecy, J., & Mohr, D. C. (2013, September 9). Development and Usability Testing of FOCUS: A Smartphone System for Self-Management of Schizophrenia. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/prj0000019. [pdf]
• Mohr DC, Cheung K, Schueller SM, Brown CH, Duan N. Continuous Evaluation of Evolving Behavioral Intervention Technologies. Am J Prev Med. 2013;45(4):517–523. [pdf]
• Mohr DC, Duffecy J, Ho J, Kwasny M, Cai X, Burns MN, Begale M. A randomized controlled trial evaluating a manualized telecoaching protocol for improving adherence to a web-based intervention for the treatment of depression. PLoS ONE 8(8): e70086. 2013. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0070086. [pdf]
• Burns MN, Nawacki E, Kwasny MJ, Pelletier D, Mohr DC. Do positive or negative stressful events predict the development of new brain lesions in people with multiple sclerosis? Psychological medicine. 2013:1-11. doi: 10.1017/S0033291713000755. PubMed PMID: 23680407.
• Mohr DC, Burns MN, Schueller SM, Clarke G, Klinkman M. Behavioral Intervention Technologies: Evidence review and recommendations for future research in mental health. General hospital psychiatry. 2013. [pdf]
• Himelhoch S, Medoff D, Maxfield J, Dihmes S, Dixon L, Robinson C, et al. Telephone Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Targeting Major Depression Among Urban Dwelling, Low Income People Living with HIV/AIDS: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial. AIDS and Behavior. 2013:1-9.
• Cuijpers P, Turner E, Mohr D, Hofmann S, Andersson G, Berking M, et al. Comparison of psychotherapies for adult depression to pill placebo control groups: a meta-analysis. Psychological medicine. 2013:1-11.
• Kumar S, Nilsen WJ, Abernethy A, Atienza A, Patrick K, Pavel M, et al. Mobile Health Technology Evaluation: The mHealth Evidence Workshop. Am J Prev Med. 2013;45(2):228-36.[pdf]
• Schueller SM, Leykin Y, Perez-Stable EJ, Munoz RF. Selection of intervention components in an internet stop smoking participant preference trial: beyond randomized controlled trials. Psychiatry Res. 2013;205(1-2):159-64. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2012.08.030. PubMed PMID: 22985547; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3583220.
• Heckman TG, Heckman BD, Anderson T, Lovejoy TI, Mohr D, Sutton M, et al. Supportive-Expressive and Coping Group Teletherapies for HIV-Infected Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial. AIDS Behav. 2013. doi: 10.1007/s10461-013-0441-0. PubMed PMID: 23474642.
• Burns MN, Nawacki E, Siddique J, Pelletier D, Mohr DC. Prospective examination of anxiety and depression before and during confirmed and pseudoexacerbations in patients with multiple sclerosis. Psychosom Med. 2013;75(1):76-82. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e3182757b2b. PubMed PMID: 23197840; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3538885.
• Burns MN, Mohr DC. eHealth and Behavioral Intervention Technologies. Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine: Springer; 2013. p. 659-64.
• Brown CH, Mohr DC, Gallo CG, Mader C, Palinkas L, Wingood G, et al. A computational future for preventing HIV in minority communities: how advanced technology can improve implementation of effective programs. JAIDS J Acquired Immune Defic Syndromes. 2013;63:S72-S84.
• Baron KG, Lattie E, Ho J, Mohr DC. Interest and Use of Mental Health and Specialty Behavioral Medicine Counseling in US Primary Care Patients. Int J Behav Med. 2013;20(1):69-76. doi: 10.1007/s12529-011-9211-4. PubMed PMID: 22161149.

2012

• Schueller SM, Parks AC. Disseminating self-help: positive psychology exercises in an online trial. J Med Internet Res. 2012;14(3):e63. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1850. PubMed PMID: 22732765; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3414858.
• Schueller SM. Personality Fit and Positive Interventions: Extraverted and Introverted Individuals Benefit from Different Happiness Increasing Strategies. Psychology. 2012;3(12A):1166-73.
• Saulsberry A, Corden M, Taylor-Crawford K, Crawford TJ, Johnson M, Froemel J, et al. Chicago Urban Resiliency Building (CURB): An Internet-Based Depression-Prevention Intervention for Urban African-American and Latino Adolescents. J Child Fam Stud. 2012. doi: 10.1007/s10826-012-9627-8.
• Munoz RF, Aguilera A, Schueller SM, Leykin Y, Perez-Stable EJ. From online randomized controlled trials to participant preference studies: morphing the San Francisco Stop Smoking site into a worldwide smoking cessation resource. J Med Internet Res. 2012;14(3):e64. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1852. PubMed PMID: 22739225; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3414852.
• Mohr DC, Lovera J, Brown T, Cohen B, Neylan T, Henry R, et al. A randomized trial of stress management for the prevention of new brain lesions in MS. Neurology. 2012;79(5):412-9. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182616ff9. PubMed PMID: 22786596; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3405245. [pdf]
• Mohr DC, Ho J, Duffecy J, Reifler D, Sokol L, Burns MN, et al. Effect of telephone-administered vs face-to-face cognitive behavioral therapy on adherence to therapy and depression outcomes among primary care patients: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2012;307(21):2278-85. doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.5588. PubMed PMID: 22706833. [pdf]
• Lehman KA, Burns MN, Gagen EC, Mohr DC. Development of the brief inventory of perceived stress. J Clin Psychol. 2012;68(6):631-44. doi: 10.1002/jclp.21843. PubMed PMID: 22467381.
• Heesen C, Kopke S, Kasper J, Poettgen J, Tallner A, Mohr DC, et al. Behavioral interventions in multiple sclerosis: a biopsychosocial perspective. Expert Rev Neurother. 2012;12(9):1089-100. doi: 10.1586/ern.12.103. PubMed PMID: 23039388.
• Hart SL, Hoyt MA, Diefenbach M, Anderson DR, Kilbourn KM, Craft LL, et al. Meta-analysis of efficacy of interventions for elevated depressive symptoms in adults diagnosed with cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2012;104(13):990-1004. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djs256. PubMed PMID: 22767203.
• Gold SM, O'Connor MF, Gill R, Kern KC, Shi Y, Henry RG, et al. Detection of altered hippocampal morphology in multiple sclerosis-associated depression using automated surface mesh modeling. Hum Brain Mapp. 2012. doi: 10.1002/hbm.22154. PubMed PMID: 22847919.
• Duffecy J, Sanford S, Wagner L, Begale M, Nawacki E, Mohr DC. Project onward: an innovative e-health intervention for cancer survivors. Psychooncology. 2012. doi: 10.1002/pon.3075. PubMed PMID: 22438297; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3387296.
• Dlugonski D, Motl RW, Mohr DC, Sandroff BM. Internet-delivered behavioral intervention to increase physical activity in persons with multiple sclerosis: sustainability and secondary outcomes. Psychol Health Med. 2012;17(6):636-51. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2011.652640. PubMed PMID: 22313192.
• Burns MN, Kamen C, Lehman KA, Beach SRH. Minority Stress and Attributions for Discriminatory Events Predict Social Anxiety in Gay Men. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 2012;36(1):25-35. doi: DOI 10.1007/s10608-010-9302-6.
• Burns MN, Kamen C, Lehman KA, Beach SRH. Attributions for Discriminatory Events and Satisfaction with Social Support in Gay Men. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 2012;41(3):659-71. doi: DOI 10.1007/s10508-011-9822-5.

2011

• Schueller SM. To each his own well-being boosting intervention: Using preference to guide selection. The Journal of Positive Psychology. 2011;6(4):300-13.
• Kamen C, Burns M, Beach SR. Minority stress in same-sex male relationships: when does it impact relationship satisfaction? J Homosex. 2011;58(10):1372-90. Epub 2011/10/28. doi: 10.1080/00918369.2011.614904. PubMed PMID: 22029562.
• Cuijpers P, Donker T, Johansson R, Mohr DC, van Straten A, Andersson G. Self-guided psychological treatment for depressive symptoms: a meta-analysis. Plos One. 2011;6(6):e21274.
• Burns MN, Begale M, Duffecy J, Gergle D, Karr CJ, Giangrande E, et al. Harnessing context sensing to develop a mobile intervention for depression. J Med Internet Res. 2011;13(3):e55. Epub 2011/08/16. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1838. PubMed PMID: 21840837; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3222181.

Funding

Pilot Grant

CBITs is offering a pilot grant of $25,000 for the development of Behavioral Intervention Technologies (BITs) to Northwestern University faculty investigators. This grant program is aimed to catalyze BITs research within the Northwestern community. Download the CBITs 2014 Pilot Grant RFA.

The 2014 pilot grant RFA deadline is March 3rd, 2014.

You may also be interested to attend the Purple Informational Session on January 7th, 2014 to find out more about the Behavioral Intervention Technology Development Core Facility (BITCore) and the CBITs pilot grant.

Click the button below to add this event to your Google calendar.

Positions

Assistant/Associate Professor in eHealth/mHealth Research
Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics and Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Postdoctoral Fellowship - Data Science for mobile phone based behavioral interventions.
Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Postdoctoral Fellowship
Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Systems Analyst/Programmer
Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Assistant/Associate Professor in eHealth/mHealth Research Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics and Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies

The Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics and the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITs) at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University seek an outstanding scientist, either PhD or MD, at the rank of Associate or Assistant Professor, full-time status, with an anticipated start date of Summer 2014. CBITs has strong ties to the Schools of Engineering and Communication, providing an ideal home for researchers who integrate behavioral and clinical science, engineering, computer science, informatics, and/or communications. The successful candidate will have research interests in the development, evaluation, or dissemination of eHealth or mHealth interventions, with an emphasis that includes health behaviors such as diet, exercise, adherence to medications or medical regimens, and disease management. Expertise in the application of a number of intervention technologies is sought, including but not limited to mobile applications, web applications, sensor technologies, social networking, serious gaming, or integration of eHealth interventions into EMRs. Tenure status and salary are to be determined based on qualifications and experience.

Northwestern University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and ethnic minorities are encouraged to apply. Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the U.S.

Please send a letter explaining your career goals and CV to the attention of Dr. Michael Wolf, Associate Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at mswolf@northwestern.edu. CV’s should be received no later than March 3, 2014.

‹ Positions

Postdoctoral Fellowship - Data science for mobile phone based behavioral interventions Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies

Northwestern University's Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITs) is searching for a postdoctoral fellow with strong interest and competency in machine learning to develop approaches to analyze e-health, m-health and technology-assisted intervention for depression. The fellow will work on NIMH-funded trials of m-health interventions in collaboration with the group of Konrad Kording (klab.smpp.northwestern.edu). This position promises training both in clinical as well as in machine learning, Bayesian, and optimization approaches. The primary objective of this fellowship is to prepare the individual for an academic career at the intersection between medicine and machine learning.

One project is using mobile phone sensor data to identify user states related to mood, activity, social context and location relevant to treatment, while another will use data collected from mobile phones to inform an adaptive mobile intervention that provides treatment elements tailored to the needs of the patient.

Minority applicants encouraged. The position is currently open and review of applicants will be rolling. Salary is competitive. Strong computational skills are essential. Additional helpful qualifications include training in clinical psychology, computer science, python, evidence of scholarship, and excellent writing skills.

Please send curriculum vita, statement of research interests & goals, and three letters of recommendation to David C. Mohr, Ph.D., c/o Lisette Luistro, Department of Preventive Medicine, 680 N. Lakeshore Drive, Suite 1400, Chicago IL 60611 or electronically to l-rubio@northwestern.edu.

‹ Positions

Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies

Northwestern University's Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITs) is searching for a postdoctoral fellow with strong interest and competency in the development and evaluation of e-health, m-health and technology-assisted intervention for depression, medical disease management, and/or other behavioral medicine treatment targets. The fellow will work on NIMH-funded trials of e-health and m-health interventions, which will include conducting telephone psychotherapy and supporting eHealth interventions. The fellow will have the use of data from completed trials for publications. The primary objective of this fellowship is to prepare the individual for an academically oriented career in clinical research. Minority applicants encouraged. Appointments are for one year, renewable to two, pending budgetary approval. Salary is competitive. Additional qualifications include Ph.D. in clinical psychology, evidence of scholarship, and excellent writing skills.

Please send curriculum vita, statement of research interests & goals, and three letters of recommendation to David C. Mohr, Ph.D., c/o Lisette Luistro, Department of Preventive Medicine, 680 N. Lakeshore Drive, Suite 1400, Chicago IL 60611 or electronically to l-rubio@northwestern.edu.

‹ Positions

Systems Analyst/Programmer
Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies

This Systems Analyst/Programmer will provide software solutions and integration for Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies. The focus for the position is to provide custom web-based software solutions for the research portfolio of CBITs. The candidate will incorporate, modify and write open source software in support of clinical research. The projects and codebase will require expertise in JavaScript, node. js and postgress.

The applicant is required to have a good understanding of the software engineering life cycle and should enjoy participating in all aspects of the application development. The position is responsible for translating user requests into programmable functionalities and the use of Agile methods during application development, deployment, and maintenance. New applications and modules will be written in node. js, although maintenance of existing, non-node.js code will be important. The position will also be involved in database design. The position will be expected to utilize version control using git, perform integrated issue and user request tracking and incorporate unit and user acceptance testing practices- familiarity with these practices will be an important part of the applicant selection process. The desire to learn new skills is expected, as is the willingness to share knowledge with other members of the team.

Specific Responsibilities:
• Development and testing of software applications. This can include integration of research applications with existing databases.
• Software maintenance, refactoring, and enhancement of existing applications.
• Develop standard APIs and shareable libraries for general use.
• Collaborate with other academics in the Center on related projects.

Minimum Qualifications:
• BS in Computer Science or equivalent education and experience from which similar skills may be acquired
• One to three years working experience in programming, bioinformatics, informatics, or data warehousing
• Programming with a dynamic language such as node.js
• A basic understanding of SQL and database design
• Familiarity with software engineering life cycle and agile methods
• Demonstrated team building skills, ability to work with a 'virtual community', strong interpersonal skills and excellent oral and written communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:
• One or more year of experience in development projects.
• Familiarity with software versioning tools, especially git
• Experience with database design, application design and building of applications for academic research
• User support and training experience
• Experience in an academic or health care computing environment
• Expertise with SQL and relational data design in Oracle
• Expertise with PostgreSQL or other open source RDBMS
• Expertise with open source (github or CSV) versioning tools
• Working experience with various testing practices such as unit testing, user acceptance testing and regression testing

As per Northwestern University policy, this position requires a criminal background check. Successful applicants will need to submit to a criminal background check prior to employment.

Please send a resume, cover letter, and three letters of recommendation to Mark Begale, c/o Lisette Luistro, Department of Preventive Medicine, 680 N. Lakeshore Drive, Suite 1400, Chicago IL 60611 or electronically to l-rubio@northwestern.edu.

‹ Positions

Project Management Specialist
Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies

Under direction from the Chief Technology Officer of the Northwestern University Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITs), this software developer position provides general support of software development and project management of CBITs software and database projects. Specifically, this position will serve as beta testing coordinator and provide technical documentation for technology projects. This position will be responsible for ensuring that technical documentation are executed so that the programming team, project managers, and collaborators are provided with information useful for completion of the projects according to plan. Internal communication of these activities with CBITs team is a critical task for the software developer.

Specific Responsibilities:
• Assisting primary project managers in technology projects. Effectively and frequently communicating relevant project information, including project status, decisions, updates, revisions and changes to all stakeholders including directors and project team members; creating/implementing/monitoring/updating project plans; monitoring requirements gathering; tracking tasks/deliverables to ensure timelines/milestones/goals are met.
• Coordinate and perform beta testing, ensuring functionality and whether specifications are met before passing on to researcher or client. Accurately documenting the beta testing procedures and results.
• Generating relevant project reports, requirement specifications using PivotalTracker, Smartsheet and other project management tools. Creating and using Gantt charts, spreadsheets or other appropriate tools to manage information flow, document milestones, and ensure that information are easily accessible and usable. Ensuring project documents are complete, current, and stored appropriately
• Managing and collating meeting documentations, schedules, communication (email) records, meeting agendas, minutes and status reports; Ensuring this information is updated and organized.
• Facilitate decision-making and contribute to the development process by coordinating and ensuring timely communication among researchers, project managers, study staff, and clients.
• Providing auditing and oversight of development procedures and progress. Communicate potential problems to project managers so that solutions and prevention strategies are put into place.

Minimum Qualifications:
• A bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education, training and experience from which comparable skills can be acquired;
• 2 years of experience including familiarity with software documentation systems and or project management software such as JIRA Confluence, MS project, Pivotal Tracker, and/or github
• Ability to problem-solve, multi-task, and display good judgment in decisions and recommendations;
• Experience working in a computing environment;
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal skills;
• Strong organizational and quantitative skills;
• Ability to forge working relationships with faculty and staff;
• Ability and flexibility to learn new systems in order to understand and question requests coming from specialists and technical staff and to evaluate what is reasonable or possible, without necessarily having the technical expertise;
• Interest and ability to learn software development methodologies;
• Ability to learn relevant methodologies processes and standards to be able to ensure that all project team members understand and follow these also.

Preferred Qualifications:
• 1 or more years of experience in an academic research environment;.
• Agile software development expertise, or Agile project expertise;
• Experience with experience working with versioned code system and staged production releases.

As per Northwestern University policy, this position requires a criminal background check. Successful applicants will need to submit to a criminal background check prior to employment.

Please send a resume, cover letter, and three letters of recommendation to Mark Begale, c/o Lisette Luistro, Department of Preventive Medicine, 680 N. Lakeshore Drive, Suite 1400, Chicago IL 60611 or electronically to l-rubio@northwestern.edu.

‹ Positions

Be a Participant

We rely on participants to test and provide feedback on programs and applications we develop. We are currently recruiting.

Teen User Testing

Interested in how new internet and mobile phone-based programs can promote health and wellness for teens? We are designing new internet programs and mobile phones apps to teach young people how to become more aware of their mood and what causes it to change. We are looking for teenagers who have internet access and an email account to participate in one to five focus interviews. Learn more and participate!

Adult User Testing

CBITs is currently evaluating the function and design of a number of mental health interventions and applications. These include mobile phone, social network and web based interventions that are aimed at addressing issues such as medication adherence, interpersonal skills training and establishing more streamlined and customized patient care systems.

If you are interested, please complete the survey located here.

New studies and opportunities to participate in CBITs research will be available over the coming months.

Context Sensing

Ubiquitous, everyday technology is increasingly being used to detect, understand, and monitor health behaviors. Researchers and developers at CBITs are employing emerging sensor technologies to design better health interventions. In the future, using data collected passively and continuously from patients and consumers, behavioral intervention technologies can be closely tailored to each patient, reaching out to patients at the right time and when it is needed most.

Several of our researchers are investigating the use of mobile phone, wearable, and environmental sensors to collect data (e.g. WIFI, GPS, Bluetooth, accelerometer) with the intention of identifying risk and resilience states and to support treatments. Current projects include those aimed at improving the lives of people with depression and bipolar disorder. We are also developing assistive technology for older adults, as well as for individuals with various physical and mental disabilities. We do this by creating personal mobile assistant tools based on mobile sensors, and in-home monitoring technologies based on ambient and wearable sensors.

Featured Projects:

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