Big data meets health care and treatment—that was the vision of Jukka-Pekka "JP" Onnela, PhD, when he conceived the Beiwe app. As the mobile component of the Beiwe research platform, it leverages modern smartphone technology to collect clinical study data. Rocket Farm Studios had the privilege of collaborating with Onnela to bring this app to life, creating a more efficient and effective way to gather crucial health information.

Onnela, a Fulbright scholar from Finland, now serves as an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Harvard University, where he leads the Onnela Lab. His research focuses on statistical network science and digital phenotyping. “We study social and biological networks, creating new mathematical models to understand them. Digital phenotyping is about using personal digital devices to quantify human behavior and social interactions in real time,” explains Onnela.

At its core, the Beiwe app aims to harness data to better understand human behavior. Onnela and his team identified a need for more accurate patient data collection, especially in healthcare settings. “Historically, collecting patient outcome data before and after treatment has been a challenge,” he says. By using smartphones to gather real-time data, Beiwe helps create digital phenotypes that provide valuable insights into patient behavior, particularly for those dealing with certain diseases.

“The idea is to move away from sporadic hospital visits and toward continuous data collection through digital ‘breadcrumbs.’ For instance, one of our collaborators, a neurosurgeon, can now monitor his patients before and after brain surgery with more data points, transforming these into biomedically useful information.”