ChatBCT: Interdisciplinary Personalized Digital Health Analytics Training for Behavior Change - Digital health technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly expanding how the behavioral and social sciences (BSSR) can advance chronic disease prevention and management. However, future BSSR leaders need mastery of contemporary methods for intervention development and advanced data analytics to harness these opportunities. We propose the Comprehensive Health Analytics Training for Behavior Change Technologies (ChatBCT) career development program – in the College of Health Solutions (CHS) at Arizona State University (ASU) - to support predoctoral trainees in acquiring advanced training in digital health analytics and personalized behavior change. Our approach is comprehensive and focuses on four core competencies: (a) digital health technology design for health behavior change, to ground scholars in theory-driven and user-centered approaches to technology development; (b) emerging adaptive and optimization methods and designs, to speed progress and foster innovation in intervention personalization; (c) data integration and curation techniques, to leverage the unique challenges and opportunities of digital health data (e.g., wearables, smartphones, time-intensive self-reports, and other pervasive sensing platforms); and (d) advanced data analytics, to equip scholars with skills in advanced regression, deep learning, digital twin, generative AI, transfer learning, and explainable AI. BSSR participating faculty have expertise in digital health and other behavioral interventions in a range of behavioral domains including physical activity, nutrition, substance use, cancer prevention and control, sleep, and more. Data science participating faculty have expertise in applied statistics, AI/machine learning (ML), and algorithm design. ChatBCT will support three annual cohorts of three new predoctoral scholars (N total = 9). Six will be funded by this program, and an additional three will be funded internally at ASU to sustain the program. Scholars will be co-mentored by a multidisciplinary pair of BSSR and data scientists. The ChatBCT curriculum and activities will include foundational courses in research methods and statistics; flagship courses in digital health design and integrated advanced research methods and data analytics; laboratory rotations and internships; problem-based models of inquiry through case studies; journal clubs; and professional development seminars. Importantly, ChatBCT scholars will engage in these activities alongside data science scholars in biomedical informatics, biostatistics, computer science, and engineering to foster team science. We are committed to recruiting a highly qualified pool of scholars. ChatBCT is poised to produce next-generation BSSR scientists capable of developing more effective and precise digitally-delivered behavioral interventions for chronic disease prevention and management.
