After the PDTx Master Class, students will be able to …

1. evaluate specific healthcare challenges presented by clinical experts within the Singaporean healthcare system to detect opportunities for PDTx,
2. design a PDTx prototype that deals with a defined clinical issue, incorporating feedback from medical professionals, patients, and technical experts,
3. craft an innovative DTx with a design and trial service for PDTx and AI tools, supported by lectures and practical advice from experts, and
4. demonstrate a PDTx prototype to a panel of clinical experts, patients, and investors to showcase its potential for business success and societal impact within the healthcare landscape of Singapore.

Fundamentals of PDTx

• Definition and scope of PDTx
• Differences between traditional Digital Therapeutics (DTx) and PDTx
• Role of PDTx in modern healthcare systems

Design and Development of PDTx Prototypes

• Rapid prototyping techniques for PDTx
• Incorporating clinical input and patient feedback
• Practical sessions using state-of-the-art PDTx tools

GenAI in PDTx

• Applications of GenAI for personalizing interventions
• Practical workshops on leveraging GenAI tools in PDTx development
• Ethical considerations in AI-driven healthcare solutions

Scaling of PDTx

• Strategies for incorporating PDTx into the Singaporean Healthcare System
• Overcoming barriers and ensuring user engagement
• Developing sustainable business models for PDTx

Commercialization and Societal Impact of PDTx

• Develop sustainable business models for PDTx in healthcare markets
• Evaluate the potential societal benefits and healthcare system impacts of PDTx frameworks
• The alignment of business potential with positive social outcomes in digital health innovation

We are looking for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in medicine, engineering, computer, business, and management science.

If you are a PhD student or postdoctoral researcher not affiliated with Nanyang Technology University (NTU), please apply to Prof. Dr. Tobias Kowatsch and Dr. Jacqueline Mair with [1] your CV, [2] a cover letter explaining your motivation to participate in the masterclass, and [3] references in support of your application (optional), via the following link by Sunday, October 13, 2024: Apply for PDTx Master Class, Singapore 2025.

If you are a student or postdoctoral researcher with NTU, please contact Prof Wilson Goh.

Participation in the PDTx Master Class is by invitation only. Due to the intense and team-science nature of the training, the Master Class is limited to 30 participants selected from the pool of applicants. Successful participants will be assigned to a one of five interdisciplinary teams who will then work together to design a PDTx for a specific healthcare challenge. Teams will be compiled based on background, experience, and residency (Singapore-based or international). Acceptance of attendance will be communicated by the end of October 2024.

Travel Grants: The Future Health Technologies Programme will generously provide up to six travel grants to the value of S$1,000 each, to the most promising participants who are not already based in Singapore. Please indicate in the motivation letter if, and why, you wish to be considered for this award.

Participants will benefit from:

1. lectures and substantial hands-on experience with PDTx, incl. PDTx software and generative AI tools
2. a social network of like-minded individuals eager to improve health care with PDTx
3. a confirmation of attendance with a detailed overview of the schedule and efforts
4. a set of highly relevant scientific papers on PDTx and the following textbook: Digital Therapeutics for Mental Health and Addiction by Jacobson, Kowatsch & Marsch
5. meals and drinks during the summer school (e.g., coffee breaks, lunch, social dinner)

Additionally, international participants will be provided with accommodation for 5 nights during the Masterclass.

The PDTx Master Class is structured according to the five phases of the rigorous and methodology-guided design and evaluation framework for digital health interventions outlined below:

1. Preparation Phase: (a) gathering requirements for a PDTx; (b) developing a first PDTx prototype based on patient-centered and value-sensitive design methods; (c) conducting a feasibility study; (d) determining an optimization criterion based on a market analysis and focus group discussions with relevant stakeholders
2. Optimization Phase: Determining the optimized intervention package with the help of optimization trials (e.g., micro-randomized trials or (fractional) factorial experiments)
3. Evaluation Phase: Determining the effectiveness of a PDTx with randomized controlled trials
4. Implementation Phase: Implementing the PDTx into a healthcare ecosystem with a sustainable reimbursement model
5. Scale Phase: Scaling up PDTx and implementing it in several healthcare ecosystems

For more details, please read:

1. Schlieter, H., Gand, K., Marsch, L. A., Chan, W. S., & Kowatsch, T. (2024). Editorial: Scaling-up health-IT—sustainable digital health implementation and diffusion. Frontiers in Digital Health, 6. 10.3389/fdgth.2024.1296495 
2. Kowatsch, T., Otto, L., Harperink, S., Cotti, A., & Schlieter, H. (2019). A design and evaluation framework for digital health interventions. it – Information Technology, 61(5-6), 253-263. 10.1515/itit-2019-0019
3. Collins, L. M. (2018). Optimization of Behavioral, Biobehavioral, and Biomedical Interventions: The Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST). Springer. 10.1007/978-3-319-72206-1 

6-8 pm Welcome Reception
Supply and Demand Esplanade

08:30 – 09:00 Welcome Notes

1. Prof Joseph Sung, Distinguished University Professor, Senior Vice President Health & Life Sciences, NTU and Dean, LKC Medicine
2. Asst Prof Ng Yih Yng, Digital & Smart Health Office, Centre for Healthcare Innovation, National Healthcare Group, Singapore
3. Prof Nicole Wenderoth, Director Future Health Technology (FHT) programme at the Singapore-ETH Centre & Professor for Neural Control of Movement, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich
4. Prof Tobias Kowatsch, Professor for Digital Health Interventions, University of Zurich (UZH), University of St.Gallen (HSG), Scientific Director Centre for Digital Health Interventions, UZH, HSG & ETH Zurich

09:00 – 10:00 Keynote on Precision Digital Therapeutics
Prof Kowatsch

10:00 – 10:30 Break

10:30 – 12:00 Introduction to Group Challenges
Clinical Experts

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch Break

13:00 – 14:30 Workshop: Design of a Conceptual Model
Prof Kowatsch, Dr Jacqueline Mair & Dr Oscar Castro

14:30 – 15:00 Break

15:00 – 17:30 Group Work, Outcome: PDTx Conceptual Model
supported by Prof Kowatsch, Drs Mair & Castro

08:30 – 09:30 Keynote on Optimization Trials
Dr Oscar Castro

09:30 – 10:00 Break

10:00 – 12:00 PDTx Design & Trial Service Workshop Part 1
Prof. Kowatsch, Akshaye Shenoi, Samarth Negi & Ahmad Jabir

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch Break

13:00 – 14:30 PDTx Design & Trial Service Workshop Part 2
Prof. Kowatsch, Shenoi, Negi, & Jabir

14:30 – 15:00 Break

15:00 – 17:30 Group Work, Outcome: PDTx prototype 1
supported by Prof. Kowatsch, Shenoi, Negi, & Jabir

18:00 – 21:00 Social Gathering and Dinner
Edge at Pan Pacific, bus transfer at 18:00, CHI

08:30 – 09:30 Keynote on the Evaluation of PDTx
Dr Jacqueline Mair

09:30 – 10:00 Break

10:00 – 12:00 GenAI Workshop – Part 1
Prof. Kowatsch, Lim Chang Siang, Shenoi & Negi

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch Break

13:00 – 14:30 Groups get feedback from clinicians on PDTx prototype 1
Prof. Kowatsch

14:30 – 15:00 Break

15:00 – 17:30 Group Work, Outcome: PDTx prototype 2
supported by Prof. Kowatsch, Chang Siang, Shenoi & Negi

08:30 – 09:30 Keynote on Implementation of PDTx
Dr Jumana Hashim

09:30 – 10:00 Break

10:00 – 12:00 GenAI Workshop – Part 2
Prof. Kowatsch, Chang Siang, Shenoi & Negi

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch Break

13:00 – 14:30 Coaching Session: Group Work
Prof. Kowatsch, Chang Siang, Shenoi & Negi

14:30 – 15:00 Break

15:00 – 17:30 Group Work, Outcome: PDTx prototype 3 with GenAI
supported by Prof. Kowatsch, Chang Siang, Shenoi & Negi

06:30 – 7:00 pm Arrival of participants

07:00 – 7:10 pm Welcome note by the host and moderator
Asst. Prof Ng Yih Yng, PhD, Centre for Healthcare Innovation, Digital & Smart Health Office, National Healthcare Group

07:10 – 8:15 pm Panel Discussion with…

1. 1. Dr. Nelson Lau, CEO, HealthBridge AI
   2. Jim Lim, Head of Health Ecosystem, Zühlke Group
   3. Dr Ronald Ling, CEO, ConnectedHealth, SugoSure 
   4. Tan Kae Yuan, Co-Founder, Health BETA
   5. Dr Christopher W. Wong, Director & COO, Gene Solutions, SPOT-MAS
   6. Yeo Yong Kiang, CTO, SPACE (MedTech)

20:00 – 21:30 Social Exchange and Dinner

08:30 – 09:30 Keynote on Scaling up PDTx
Nansheng Shen, Co-Founder and Deputy CEO CoNEX Healthcare

09:30 – 10:00 Break

10:00 – 12:00 Coaching Session: Group Work
Prof. Kowatsch, Dr Mair, Dr Castro, Jabir, Shenoi & Negi

12:00 – 13:00 Lunch Break

13:00 – 15:00 Final group presentations
Prof. Kowatsch, Dr Mair, Dr Castro, Jabir, Shenoi & Negi

15:00 – 15:30 Break

15:30 – 16:00 Award Ceremony & Closing Remarks
Prof. Kowatsch, Dr Mair, Dr Castro, Jabir, Shenoi & Negi

1. Digital Therapeutics Alliance (2023) DTx Evaluation Toolkit, https://dtxalliance.org/understanding-dtx/dtx-evaluation-toolkit/
2. Gilbert, S., Harvey, H., Melvin, T. et al. (2023). Large language model AI chatbots require approval as medical devices. Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02412-6
3. Jacobson, N., Kowatsch, T., & Marsch, L. (Eds.). (2023). Digital Therapeutics for Mental Health and Addiction: The State of the Science and Vision for the Future (1st ed.). Elsevier, Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2020-0-02801-X.
4. Kowatsch, T., & Fleisch, E. (2021). Digital Health Interventions. In O. Gassmann & F. Ferrandina (Eds.), Connected Business: Create Value in a Networked Economy (pp. 71-95). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76897-3_4
5. Wang, C., Lee, C., & Shin, H. (2023). Digital therapeutics from bench to bedside. npj Digital Medicine, 6(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-023-00777-z