Are you interested in how we might reach vulnerable populations with digital therapeutics? Prof. Dr. Tobias Kowatsch is invited to speak at the UNOVA Medical School in Lisboa on the topic of: What can we learn from Squid Game, Game of Thrones, or Breaking Bad to Lower the Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health?

Date: Wednesday, 15 February 2023

Time: 3 GMT,

Location: NOVA Medical School, Campo Márires Da Pátria, 130 1169-056 Lisboa, Portugal

About the talk: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) impose enormous health burdens on individuals and lead to substantial economic challenges. Known risk factors relate primarily to a lifestyle characterized by tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, or an unbalanced diet. This lifestyle can lead to obesity, hypertension, and other cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Unfortunately, individuals with lower socioeconomic status (SES) are substantially more affected by NCDs. These individuals are also underrepresented in clinical and non-clinical trials. As a result, health interventions are potentially only effective for individuals with higher SES and do not address those most in need. Therefore, it is essential to understand how to reach and engage individuals with lower SES. In this talk, I will discuss what we can learn from the most successful TV shows to “hijack” the comfort zones of vulnerable individuals and design digital therapeutics that may lower socioeconomic inequalities in health.

About Dr. Kowatsch: Dr Tobias “Tobi” Kowatsch is Associate Professor for Digital Health Interventions at the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care, University of Zurich, and Director at the School of Medicine, University of St. Gallen. He is also the Scientific Director of the Centre for Digital Health Interventions, a joint initiative of the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care, University of Zurich, the School of Medicine, University of St. Gallen, the Institute of Technology Management, University of St. Gallen, and the Department of Management, Technology and Economics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. In close collaboration with his interdisciplinary team and research partners, Tobias designs digital therapeutics at the intersection of information systems research, computer science, and behavioral medicine. He helped initiate and participates in the ongoing development of MobileCoach, an open-source platform for ecological momentary assessments, health monitoring, and digital health interventions. He is also co-founder of the ETH Zurich and University of St. Gallen spin-off company Pathmate Technologies that creates and delivers digital clinical pathways. Tobias has a PhD in Management from University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, a Master of Science in Business Information Systems from Saarland University, Germany, and a Master of Computer Science in Media from Hochschule Furtwangen University, Germany. He published his research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (JCCP), American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR), Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), JMIR mHealth and uHealth, Journal of Asthma & Allergy, Addictive Behaviors, Information Systems Journal (ISJ), and Computers in Human Behavior (CHB).