Exploring Disability Independence in the Health Research Roundtable: Fall 2023

This year the College of Health (COH) hosted the Health Research Roundtable, a series highlighting the work of faculty and collaborators in the area of Disability Independence. Improving health outcomes for marginalized populations, and developing technologies in collaboration with these communities, is central to the COH’s mission. The role of innovative technologies was a prominent theme, reflected in discussions surrounding AI in healthcare, wearable technologies to guide rehabilitation, and new tools to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities. 

The greater Lehigh community is invited to join the Health Research Roundtable in order to foster dialogue and broaden impact across disciplines. Read on to learn more about the three events in Fall 2023.

Improving Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities
Vinod Namboodiri, a professor with joint appointments in the College of Health and the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, kicked off the series in September with “Towards Accessible Built Environments for People with Disabilities.” An expert in indoor localization, Namboodiri shared navigation challenges experienced by persons with disabilities, particularly in indoor spaces, as well as innovative technological solutions.

Currently, Namboodiri is overseeing the development of MABLE, (Mapping for Accessible Built Environments), a tool that provides customized mapping and routing information for indoor spaces. The National Science Foundation recently awarded Namboodiri a grant to bring this project to life.

Namboodiri directs the Accessibility and Assistive Technologies (ACCESS) Research Laboratory, which explores the design, evaluation, and use of computing and information technologies (in the form of Assistive and Accessibility Technologies) to benefit people challenged by health disparities, including disabilities.

Supporting Children’s Mental Health
In October, Lee Kern led the “School-based Mental Health: How Can We Best Serve Our Nation’s Youth?” presentation. Kern, a professor in the College of Education, discussed emotional and behavioral problems in children, as well as the current state of student mental health. 

According to the CDC, soaring rates of mental health challenges in this group over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the situation that existed prior to the pandemic. Kern shared promising interventions, particularly in the area of school-based services, as well as strategies for sustained funding. 

Kern’s research primarily focuses on reducing behavioral and mental health problems in children using positive behavior support strategies. In addition, her recent research includes developing and evaluating college and career readiness interventions for high school students with and at-risk for emotional and behavioral problems.

Implementing AI & Technology for Health and Well Being
The Health Research Roundtable in November featured a discussion of “AI & Technology for Health & Well Being” by Professor Mooi Choo Chuah from the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. In this talk, she provided motivations why AI and technology can be used to provide more scalable solutions for health and well being. She highlighted some of the latest work and challenges on using AI for healthcare.

Additionally, she summarized her past research, looking at how to incentivize high quality crowdsourced data for disease prediction models and to develop an explainable deep learning based medical diagnostic system. She discussed how technology such as smartphones, wearables, and VRs can provide more effective tools in preventive care or health intervention, as well as her work addressing mental health issues and VR-based intervention for special need children and teenagers.

Chuah, a professor of computer science and engineering, pursues research in autonomous systems, cloud/edge computing, network and cyber physical system security, healthcare and computer vision. She is also the associate director for the Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems, and Computation (I-DISC) at Lehigh.