Lisa N. Gualtieri

I taught HPM 574 Digital Health Spring I 2024, the first time Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has offered a course on Digital Health. In addition being an Instructor in Health Policy and Management, I am a digital strategy consultant to North American Thrombosis Forum (NATF), Project Associate in the Master's Degree in Health Delivery Science (MHDS) at Cedars-Sinai, and Associate Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine. My research, teaching, and consulting are at the intersection of health, technology, and behavior change, focusing on how to educate and support patients in leading healthier lives. With a doctorate in computer science and a focus in human-computer interaction, my research centered on how technology can help solve health problems. Realizing the limitations of technology adoption and use, my research broadened to identify the barriers patients face and to develop facilitators to remove those barriers. I am currently developing interventions that help individuals improve medication management in the home, evaluating the needs of older adults wanting to age in place but who occasionally forget their medication, racial/ethnic minorities, and high-risk pregnant people. This research has led to the design of devices that use pairs of sensors, personalized to older adults’ routines, to remind them to take their medication only when they forget. We use the same principle as automobile seatbelt alerts, which are only activated when a seatbelt isn’t latched, and the ignition is turned on. This work blends my research on home prescription medication management, my skills in qualitative research, and my experience with the use of design thinking to guide innovation. In addition, I founded a non-profit, RecycleHealth.org, that collects activity trackers and provides them to underserved populations, over 13,000 to date.