Dr. Priya Nambisan is a tenured associate professor at the Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is the founder and director of two labs: the Social Media and Health Research & Training (SMAHRT) Lab; and the Aging Research & Digital Technologies (ARDT) Lab. She has a multidisciplinary background in terms of her education, work experience, and research. She has an undergrad degree in public health and extension education from India, a master’s degree in nutrition from Syracuse University, a PhD in communication and technology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a postdoc in health informatics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has also been a registered dietitian. She has lived and worked in India, Singapore, and the U.S..
Dr. Nambisan has conducted extensive research in areas like public health; wellness and prevention; personal health information management; patient–provider communication; online communities; and digital technologies for self-care. Her current research focuses on the use of new digital technologies and data analytics techniques (prediction modeling and machine learning) for providing social, emotional, and informational support to health consumers and patients. She has over 60 research publications and over 20 conference presentations. She has also delivered several invited talks, organized special sessions at conferences, and written invited book chapters on the above topics.
For the last few years, Dr. Nambisan has been immersed in building and validating a digital self- care platform for older adults who are dealing with multiple chronic conditions. The platform – known as Comprehensive Digital Self-care Support System (CDSSS), aka myHESTIA (my Healing Ecosystem for Self-care and Therapeutic Integration for the Aging) – enables older adults to keep track of their health, reduce stress, and improve sleep using digital healing tools.
Dr. Nambisan’s Fulbright-Nehru project is adapting the CDSSS-myHESTIA platform to fit the Indian context. The aim is to provide support for the physical, mental, and social health needs of older adults. The project also aims to enhance CDSSS-myHESTIA by incorporating elements such as Indian ways of healthy aging.