Research Evaluating the Potential of Digital Medicine Technologies
We focus on validating, determining optimal utility, and integrating sensor-based digital technologies into patient medical care.
We develop visualizations combining multiple continuous data time series so that Physicians and other Healthcare Providers can understand relevant clinical data in seconds. We also work on next-generation analytics, combining data streams from individual behavior, physiology, pharmacological exposures, and transcriptomics.
Meet Our Expert Participating Faculty
Sara Browne MD is a Professor of Clinical Medicine and Global Public Health. She has conducted research into Mobile Health and Digital Medicine since 2012. She designs and implements cutting-edge clinical trial protocols, and leads data analysis, visualization design, and evaluation of sensor systems.
She has worked as Principal Investigator (PI) on novel sensor systems, receiving Innovation and multiple NIH funding awards. Dr. Browne has built multiple global Academic and Industry collaborations. She is trained in Infectious Diseases, with extensive experience in both HIV and TB research and clinical practice.
Robert Owens, MD, is a board-certified sleep medicine and critical care doctor. He is clinically active in critical care, pulmonary and sleep medicine, and caring for patients with acute respiratory conditions and sleep disorders.
In the Sleep Medicine Center, he provides a full spectrum of therapeutic and diagnostic services for people who have sleep-related disorders such as narcolepsy, insomnia, sleep apnea, and rapid eye movement (REM) behavior disorder.
Dr. Vaida joined UCSD in 2004. He has a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Chicago. And between 1998 and 2004, he was a Biostatistics faculty at Harvard School of Public Health. His research interests are in mixed-effects models, proportional hazards mixed-effects models, model selection, and clinical trials.
Dr. Vaida has published over 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters, and he has extensive experience in the areas of HIV and NeuroAIDS.
Constance A. Benson, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine and Global Public Health, Senior Attending Physician, and the Vice-Chair for Education and ID Training Program Director for the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at the University of California, San Diego.
She is also the Director of the UCSD Antiviral Research Unit (AVRC), the Principal Investigator (PI) of the UCSD CD4 Collaborative HIV Clinical Trials Unit (CTU), and the Clinical Research Site (CRS) Leader for the UCSD AVRC HIV Clinical Research Site.
Meet Our Professional Support Team
Bianca Bacio has been a dedicated professional in the Clinical Trials Research field since 2005. She joined the UCSD Team in 2019. Bianca leads clinical research coordination, overseeing and managing protocol implementation and database management with ACTRI Informatics for clinical research projects.
Her previous experience includes Clinical Research Coordinator at Artemis Institute for Clinical Research and Clinical Research Manager at La Playa Medical Group & Clinical Research.
Pam has worked as the PI for roughly 15 years in Boston and UCSD. She has spent one year working with colleagues at Johns Hopkins physiology laboratory. She provides technical oversight to the study and is involved in 'scoring the sleep recordings,' 'recruitment/retention of subjects, and 'securing and managing acquired data.' She is engaged in data analysis, sleep study scoring, management of spreadsheets, RedCap management, and more.
Particularly, she is skilled in the responsible conduct of research and is helping more junior laboratory members regarding such matters during essential sleep scoring and physiology. Pam attends the weekly meeting chaired by the PI and is available for troubleshooting equipment during any given issue.
Anya Umlauf, MS, graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a master's in Statistics.
As a statistician, she supports our researchers and trainees with all aspects of statistical design of medical and behavioral studies, including preparation of grant applications, statistical analyses of the data, interpretation of the results, and publishing those results in scientific journals.
Jeffrey Kim is a technical research assistant in the digital medicine lab. Graduated from UCSD with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies / Sociology, Jeffrey has international biotech, mobile, management, shipbuilding, and translation professional knowledge, experience, and skills.
Jeffrey is currently a Master of International Affairs: International Management (MBA Equivalent) Candidate at UCSD School of the Global Policy & Strategy and is expected to graduate in June 2023.
Our Capabilities & Location
Located at the Heart of Research and Education of San Diego, our digital medicine lab can provide services with state-of-the-art capability. Mainly, with excellent Polysomnography Experts (World Renowned Pulmonary Care Faculty) Running a Sleep facility, we can give top-class Polysomnography for Diagnostics and Therapeutic Evaluation services.
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In addition, the ACTRI Has the following other facilities to supplement medical research in various fields:
Center for Clinical Research (CCR), Biomedical Informatics (BMI), Center for Computational Biology & Bioinformatics (CCBB), Translational Research Technology Center (TRT) , Community Engagement (CE) , Dissemination & Implementation Science Center (DISC),,Center for Excellence in Translational Immunogenomics (CETI), Device Acceleration Center (DAC), Education & Training, Planning, Evaluation & Tracking, Team Science (TS) Core, Clinical Research Strategic Initiatives (CRSI)
AVRC Entrance
AVRC Lobby
AVRC Examination Room
AVRC Entrance
The AntiViral Research Center (AVRC) HQ is dedicated to the development and performance of high-quality research that enhances the quality and duration of life for people living with or affected by HIV, hepatitis C, tuberculosis, influenza, and other infectious diseases of global significance while respecting and supporting the best interests of our clients. We maintain a safe, caring, and confidential environment for persons of any age, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, and disability.
- Has a Separate Wet Lab Facility with Access to Leading Experts in Genomics, Epigenomics, Metabolomics
- Has access to CLIA Certified Diagnostic Laboratories
We perform clinical testing on digital technologies from basic accuracy and validation testing with patient/physician user experience evaluation through clinical utility assessments and integration into clinical medical environments.
Located on ACTRI and AVRC, we can perform various full clinical trial capabilities, including Clinical trial design, Protocol development and ethics submission, clinical laboratory, specimen storage, secure data storage, and leading-edge statistical analysis with machine learning tools.
