The NIH has just announced a Mobile Health Winter Institute — to be held in conjunction with the 2011 mHealth Summit in Washington, DC, in early December. Applications for the weeklong training opportunity — specifically geared toward early-career researchers, including computer scientists — are due later this month.

Here’s the full announcement/call for applications:

2011 Mobile Health (mHealth) Winter Institute

 

Enhancing health through the use of mobile technologies

 

December 5-9, 2011, Washington, DC — in conjunction with the 2011 mHealth Summit

 

Using mobile technologies to more rapidly and accurately assess and modify behavior, biological states and contextual variables has great potential to transform medical research. Recent advances in mobile technologies and the ubiquitous nature of these technologies in daily life (e.g., smart phones, sensors) have created opportunities for research applications that were not previously possible (e.g., simultaneously assessing behavioral, physiological, and psychological states in the real world and in real-time). The use of mobile technology affords numerous methodological advantages over traditional methods, including reduced memory bias, the ability to capture time-intensive longitudinal data, date- and time-stamped data, and the potential for personalizing information in real-time. However, challenges in mobile health (or mHealth) research exist. Importantly, much of the work being done in mHealth arises from single disciplines without integration of the behavioral, social sciences and clinical research fields. Without integration, mobile technologies will not be maximally effective. The NIH mHealth Winter institute address the scientific silos by bring together scientists from diverse fields to enhance the quality of mHealth research.

 

Many NIH Institutes, Centers and Federal partners will host a Winter Training Institute in conjunction with the 2011 mHealth Summit in Washington, DC. The institute will bring together leaders in mobile technology, behavioral sciences and clinical research to lead a cross- training event for early career investigators with interest in mHealth. The training curriculum will cover the current state of the science in mobile technology and engineering, behavior change theory and clinical applications, and highlight the intersection among these areas for research related to health. In addition to the activities of the mHealth Summit, participants will take part in daily didactic sessions targeting major cross-cutting research issues and take part in small, mentored, interdisciplinary teams to develop potential mHealth research projects. Participants should expect to leave the Institute and mHealth Summit with experience in creating mHealth projects in an interdisciplinary setting.

 

REQUIREMENTS: Applicants should be early career investigators who have not yet received R01 funding have received a doctoral level degree (PhD, ScD, MD, DDS, DVM, etc.) within the last five years in any of the following:

• Social and Behavioral sciences
• Medical Health and Dental sciences
• Biological, Physical or Earth sciences
• Computational sciences and Mathematics
• Engineering

 

Early career investigators who have received a terminal degree within the past five years and have not yet received R01 funding. Exceptions include:

• Applicants with medical degrees (MD, DDS, etc.) who are within five years post-residency.
• Engineers with a MSE who are 3-8 years post-degree will be considered.
• Interest in the multidisciplinary science of mobile and wireless technologies

 

Applicants are NOT required to be citizens, permanent residents, or non-citizen nationals of the United States. HOWEVER, expenses will only be paid for domestic (within the U.S.) travel. Preference will be given to applicants who plan to use the training to inform research on health problems.

 

COSTS: The Training Institute starts on December 5, 2011 at the mHealth Summit and ends on December 9, 2011. Participants’ full registration fee for the mHealth Summit, domestic travel, room/board for December 7-9, 2011 and course materials are included in the Institute at no cost to participants. Room and board during the mHealth Summit (December 5-6, 2011) are the responsibility of the participant. Family members may accompany participants at their own cost. International participants will be required to incur the costs of travel to the United States. Travel expenses within the US are included.

 

If you previously applied to the 2011 Summer Institute, and would like to be considered for the Winter Institute, do not complete the application below. Instead, send an email to mHealth.training@mail.nih.gov to confirm that you would like your application to be considered for the Winter Session.

 

Applicants must submit the following documents electronically by August 26. To complete your application, go to http://www.regonline.com/2011nihmhealthwinterinstitute.

 

The Winter Institute is made possible in part by generous support from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH).

(Contributed by Erwin Gianchandani, CCC Director)