Steven Arnold, MD
Center co-investigator
Professor
Harvard Medical School
Department of Neurology
Massachusetts General Hospital
Past Webinar – Understanding and Assisting Older Adults with AI: From Emotional States and Functional Capacity to Assistive Technologies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4420_cV5J0Y Understanding and Assisting Older Adults with AI: From Emotional States and Functional Capacity to Assistive Technologies Abstract: Older adults' needs and abilities are multidimensional and continuously changing, yet much of today’s AI focuses on detecting isolated events or predicting individual outcomes. Our work explores how AI can develop a richer understanding of older adults by integrating behavioral, emotional, functional, clinical, and environmental information. We investigate how subtle changes in emotional state can be inferred from multimodal behavior, how routinely collected clinical data can reveal meaningful patterns of intrinsic capacity, and how AI and robotics can translate this understanding into practical assistance. Across these efforts, we are also developing the data integration and validation infrastructure needed to make AI systems reliable, generalizable, and useful in real-world aging settings. Ultimately, our goal is to move from…
Poster Presentation: 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference
Title: Digital signatures of Alzheimer’s disease risk among Hispanic/Latino adults in the United States, showing how passive smartphone and wearable data can capture real-world behavioral markers of cognitive and cardiovascular risk. Authors: Raeanne Moore, Andrea Mendez Colmenares, Emma Churchill, Tess Filip, Linda C. Gallo, Alexander P. Demos, Erin E. Sundermann, Douglas R. Galasko & Maria Marquine Title: Daily Cognitive Function in Dementia Assessed Using Smartphone-Based EMA: Links with Dyadic Sleep Authors: Yeonsu Song, Laura Campbell, Brent Mausbach, Jennifer L. Martin, Mary-Lynn Brecht, Raeanne Moore Title: Day-to-day Memory Fluctuations in MCI: Linking Subjective Concerns to Real-World Performance Using Mobile Cognitive Assessment Authors: Laura M. Campbell, Emma Parrish, Colin A. Depp, Robert Ackerman, Philip D. Harvey, Amy E. Pinkham, Raeanne C. Moore
Grant Funding: Making Obstetric Care Smart
Justin Chan's lab received ARPA-H funding to design the AI/ML algorithms for a wearable monitoring system to better identify fetal distress and its cause, enabling a safer labor and delivery experience for mothers and babies. The system, called OMEGA, or Optical, Mechanical, and Electrical Global Assessment of fetal hypoxia, aims to replace 50-year-old, indirect, unreliable fetal heart rate monitoring technology with a unified, real-time assessment of fetal oxygen delivery and adaptive capacity. Source: https://engineering.cmu.edu/news-events/news/2026/06/23-transform-childbirth-care.html
Oral Presentation: Best Practices for Digital Phenotyping Research in Aging Populations
This is part of the monthly MassAITC webinar series. Abstract: Digital phenotyping is transforming aging research by enabling high-frequency, real-world measurement of cognition, behavior, symptoms, and context through smartphones, wearables, and passive sensing technologies. This talk will review how digital health tools can complement traditional clinic-based assessments by capturing intraindividual variability, diurnal patterns, environmental influences, and subtle changes in cognitive and functional performance that may signal risk for neurodegenerative disease. Using examples from studies of healthy aging, MCI, Alzheimer’s disease risk, dementia caregiving, and related clinical populations, the talk will highlight best practices for designing digital phenotyping protocols, balancing participant burden with data richness, maximizing adherence, integrating active cognitive assessments with passive data streams and biomarkers, and applying analytic approaches that distinguish within-person change from between-person differences. The session will emphasize opportunities for digital phenotyping…
Oral Presentation: Geroprotectors Hiding in Plain Sight: Systematic Identification of Approved Drugs that Reduce Organ-Specific Biological Age
Invited Speaker at the 2026 Systems Aging Gordon Research Conference titled: Complexities of Aging Across Species, Evolution, Reproduction, Human Longevity and Frailty Source: https://www.grc.org/systems-aging-conference/2026/
New Position: Wenyao Xu, Director of UB Center for Translational AI and Digital Health
MassAITC pilot PI Wenyao Xu has been named the director of University at Buffalo's new Center for Translational AI and Digital Health Source: https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2026/06/ub-center-translational-ai-digital-health.html