Keynote by Prof. Mishra on Sensing, Sensemaking, and Receptivity: Building Human-Centered Digital Health Systems and Interventions, 9 October 2025
Thursday, 9 October 2025, 1.15 pm CET, Hybrid: University of St.Gallen, Dufourstrasse 40a, A 24-0-216 or ZOOM
About Prof. Dr. Varun Mishra
Varun Mishra is an Assistant Professor at Northeastern University, with a joint appointment in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences and the Bouvé College of Health Sciences, where he directs the Ubiquitous Computing for Health and Well-being (UbiWell) Lab. His research lies at the intersection of mobile/wearable sensing, data science, human-centered computing, and behavioral science, where he works on developing data-driven technologies to enable effective digital interventions for mental- and behavioral-health conditions. His work is supported by NSF and NIH, and has been published in top venues in both computing and medicine. He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award and the IMWUT Distinguished Paper Award. He is also affiliated with the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health (CTBH) at Dartmouth College and serves as the Deputy Director for the Emerging Technologies and Data Analytics Core at CTBH. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Dartmouth College in 2021.
About the Lecture
Advances in mobile and wearable sensing have transformed our ability to capture rich streams of behavioral and physiological data. These data open the door to digital health systems that can monitor well-being and deliver timely, personalized support. Yet, three critical challenges remain: sensing noisy and incomplete signals reliably, sensemaking large-scale longitudinal data so they become accessible and actionable, and ensuring receptivity so interventions are delivered when individuals are most likely to engage and benefit. In this talk, Varun will present recent work from my lab that addresses each of these pillars. In the sensing domain, he will highlight methods for improving signal quality and personalization in physiological and behavioral modeling, enabling more robust detection of stress, craving, and other mental health outcomes. For sensemaking, Varun will describe new human–AI systems such as GLOSS and Vital Insight, which leverage large language models and hybrid workflows to make passive sensing data interpretable for both non-technical stakeholders and expert analysts. Finally, in the area of receptivity, Varun will share models that predict when individuals are most likely to engage with interventions, including approaches that generalize across intervention types and leverage multi-modal interaction channels like smartwatches and voice interfaces. Together, these threads illustrate a vision for human-centered digital health systems that not only detect states of vulnerability, but also deliver interventions at the right moment and in the right modality. He will conclude with a discussion of open challenges in scalability, reproducibility, and long-term engagement, and outline future opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.
We are pleased to invite you to join this guest lecture, which is part of our CDHI Lecture Series Digital Health Forum. Registration is not required. Please be aware that we will be recording this guest lecture and will be making it available in our teaching library. If you have any questions, please contact Victoria Brügger (victoria.bruegger@unisg.ch) prior to the start of the guest lecture.
Prof. Dr. Tobias Kowatsch, Associate Professor for Digital Health Interventions, Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care, University of Zurich; Director, School of Medicine, University of St.Gallen (HSG); Scientific Director, Centre for Digital Health Interventions (CDHI), ETH Zurich & HSG; Principal Investigator, Future Health Technologies programme, Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore-ETH Centre, Singapore
Prof. Dr. Elgar Fleisch, Professor of Information Management, ETH Zürich; Professor of Technology Management, University of St.Gallen; Advisory Board Member, CDHI, ETH Zürich & University of St.Gallen; Principal Investigator, Future Health Technologies programme, Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore-ETH Centre, Singapore
Prof. Dr. Florian von Wangenheim, Professor of Technology Marketing, ETH Zurich & Advisory Board Member, CDHI; Principal Investigator, Future Health Technologies programme, Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore-ETH Centre, Singapore
