Milwaukee City Wire

Priya Nambisan, associate professor of biostatistics and health informatics in the Joseph J. Zilber College of Public Health, has been selected as a 2024 Fulbright U.S. Scholar for India. Nambisan's research focus will be on digital self-health management platforms for the aging population, with her host institution in India being the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai.

Nambisan, who is the founder, developer, and principal investigator for the digital platform myHESTIA, expressed her motivation for adapting the platform to serve the needs of older adults in India. She highlighted the importance of technology in providing accessible health solutions for the aging population, especially with the increasing number of elderly individuals and the changing family dynamics due to economic growth.

The platform, myHESTIA, aims to help older individuals track their health conditions, foster social connections, and facilitate communication among health professionals, elders, and family members. Nambisan emphasized the significance of this technology in enabling adult children or caregivers to communicate with doctors about concerns and symptoms, ultimately providing support for in-home care.

Nambisan will be conducting research and evaluating the impact of the myHESTIA platform in India, with a focus on supporting families and their elders. She will be based at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, known for its reputable researchers focusing on the physical and mental health of the aging population.

The Fulbright Scholar Awards are prestigious fellowships that provide scholars with opportunities to teach and conduct research abroad. Nambisan will be traveling to India three times in 2024-2025 to conduct her research, starting in December 2024. This initiative builds upon Nambisan's existing work at UWM, where she directs the Aging Research and Digital Technologies Lab and the Social Media and Health Research & Training Lab.