In August 2020, the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Office of Research launched 18 Alliance Research Initiative teams from five of the UK Research Priority Areas — substance use disorder, cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity, neuroscience and cancer — and other important emerging areas of science. Since then, some alliances have completed their research projects or transitioned to larger funding mechanisms due to their success and several new alliances have been added to the active roster.  

One of the new alliances is the mHealth Application Modernization and Mobilization Alliance (MAMMA). mHealth, also called mobile health, refers to the utilization of mobile devices to aid in health care delivery. Established in 2023, MAMMA has been making significant strides in the realm of mobile health application research, leveraging the power of technology to conduct social and biomedical research via smartphone apps. 

The overarching goal of MAMMA is to help researchers successfully integrate mobile technologies into their research methodologies, leveraging the power of technology to reach broader audiences, enhance data collection, and better inform patient care.

Mikhail Koffarnus, Ph.D., an associate professor of family and community medicine, and Carolyn Lauckner, Ph.D., an associate professor of behavioral science in the Center for Health Equity Transformation (CHET), serve as co-directors of the alliance. They support a large team of interdisciplinary researchers from the Colleges of Medicine, Health Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Fine Arts, Law, and Agriculture, Food, and Environment. 

“One of the values of this alliance is bringing everybody together to share their expertise on this common problem,” said Koffarnus. “Without it, these individuals normally wouldn’t interact because they’re in completely different parts of the university.”

Monthly meetings serve as a cornerstone for knowledge sharing and collaboration within the alliance. These sessions provide a platform for researchers to present their progress, seek feedback, and discuss common challenges, such as regulatory hurdles, buying cell phones or navigating data privacy concerns. 

Since its inception, the alliance has sponsored four significant pilot studies, each addressing different health challenges through innovative mobile solutions. 

One of MAMMA’s first pilot awardees was Yuyao Sun, M.D., a clinical neurologist, who developed a project using a mobile app to track fat mass in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The app, connected to a Bluetooth smart scale, allows for remote monitoring of patient’s symptoms that are critical for disease management between regular doctor visits. 

“She developed this idea in response to a need that she saw in her practice,” said Lauckner. “It’s really patient-responsive.”  

Another alliance project, led by Jami Warren, Ph.D., associate professor in the UK College of Health Sciences, targets postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) patients by utilizing an app connected to a smartwatch to monitor and track their symptoms. By empowering patients with quantifiable data, the app enhances their ability to manage and communicate symptoms effectively with health care providers, which could potentially accelerate their diagnosis and treatment.

MAMMA awarded two additional pilot awards, co-sponsored by CHET, to projects utilizing mHealth applications to address health disparities. 

Carrie Oser, Ph.D., a University Research Professor and the Di Silvestro Endowed Professor in Sociology, is working with MAMMA’s programmer to develop an app to support an intervention for people in recovery from substance use disorders who live in rural areas and may be experiencing challenges to their recovery. The app hopes to monitor symptoms, track social interactions, and help identify stressors that may trigger a return to use. It is especially beneficial to patients in rural areas who may lack regular access to supportive services or treatment. 

Justin Huber, M.D., an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, was inspired to pursue his project after witnessing a need among his patients. With an emphasis on helping patients regain mobility following a stroke, Huber was already working with patients in his lab to capture clips of their movement on video to analyze their recovery progress using a custom algorithm. Now, by utilizing an mHealth application, he hopes to make that level of care more accessible to other providers and to his patients. Using smartphones, the ultimate goal is to allow patients to record their movements at home, allowing Huber to digitally track their symptoms and recovery progression. 

“We’re hopeful that this could have a real impact,” said Lauckner, “especially for rural patients who need rehabilitative services but may lack the means to come to the hospital frequently or have mobility issues that make traveling difficult.”

In addition to granting pilot funding awards, MAMMA offers recipients the invaluable resource of an in-house full-time application developer, Mitchell Embry, to help develop and maintain their mobile health applications over time. 

This innovative approach not only helps jump-start researchers’ projects but also addresses a common barrier among physicians and biomedical researchers — access to coding and programming expertise — which is essential for developing effective and user-friendly mobile health interventions.

“Providing access to a full-time programmer for our researchers is basically unheard of,” said Lauckner. “But it’s been absolutely invaluable to our alliance.”

Looking ahead, the alliance aims to not only expand its impact through ongoing and future research projects but also advocate for more streamlined regulatory pathways and sustainable funding models to support researchers interested in mobile health research. 

“The MAMMA Alliance has made tremendous strides in a short time,” said Becky Dutch, Ph.D., vice dean for research. “They are opening up new avenues of research for faculty across campus. Providing community, expertise and access to an experienced programmer for those awarded pilots allow the alliance to rapidly jump-start a new research program, apply for new funding and, most importantly, work to improve health across the Commonwealth and the nation.” 

By championing these efforts, MAMMA is poised to support mobile health research innovation, ensuring that cutting-edge mHealth technologies benefit both researchers and the communities they serve. 

Learn more about the Alliance Research Initiative. 

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K01AA025305 and by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R21CA261844. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.