Federal Grants and Contracts to MEI Research
Systems Engineering Design of Room Respiration Calorimeters
Funding Source: NIH / NCRR
Type: SBIR Phase I
Number: 1R43RR026200-01
Principal Investigator: Jon Moon, PhD
Amount: $357,158
Period: 2009 – 2011
Summary:
Applied systems engineering methods to room respiration calorimeter (RC) designs that can be validated, reliable and efficient. Our goals were to maximize performance and minimize operational burdens to install and operate a RC. RC are the standard for long-term and high resolution measurements of energy expenditure and substrate utilization. Other goals in this Phase I Lab to Market project were to determine key design features of RC, use standard engineering methods to evaluate RC design and instrumentation, and to disseminate knowledge to RC users and a wider community.
Cell Phone Location Monitor and User Report Platform for Diet and Energy Balance
Funding Source: USDA / NIFA
Type: SBIR Phase I
Number: 2009-33610-20316
Principal Investigator: Jon Moon, PhD
Amount: $79,815
Period: 2008 – 2009
Summary:
Early proof of concept study of using software on a smartphone to collect data on energy balance (diet and activity).
Free-living Energy Balance Assessment and Management in Close to Real Time
Funding Source: USDA / NIFA
Type: SBIR Phase II
Number: 2009-33610-20316
Principal Investigator: Jon Moon, PhD
Amount: $345,276
Period: 2009 – 2011
Summary:
One of the first projects to demonstrate that a single smartphone application could collect dietary intake, weight, physical activity, location, survey responses and provide prompts while minimizing participant burden.
Unified Platform for Managing Objective Behavioral Data - Phase I
Funding Source: NIH /NCI
Type: SBIR Phase I / Contract
Number: HHSN261201100058C
Principal Investigator: Jon Moon, PhD
Amount: $199,554
Period: 2011 – 2012
Summary:
Prototyped the “PiLR Healthware” system that enabled researchers to unify streams of objective (sensor) data, and to deliver ecological momentary assessments (EMA) and interventions (EMI). The system managed small-scale (up to 100 participants) studies of PA, dietary choice, smoking, vulvar pain, sedentary time and energy balance. It also forms the data core for room respiration calorimeter laboratories that simultaneously collect data from sensors attached to and internal to study participants.
Unified Platform for Managing Objective Behavioral Data Phase II
Funding Source: NIH /NCI
Type: SBIR Phase II / Contract
Number: HHSN261201300084C
Principal Investigator: Jon Moon, PhD
Amount: $999,529
Period: 2013 – 2015
Summary:
To complete the PiLR Health system that automates and hides all the technical ‘heavy lifting’ involved in collecting and analyzing information on behaviors that effect healthy living, thus allowing clinicians and researchers to focus on the science and patient care. The system is intended by NCI to be infrastructure for a wide range of studies and enable faster, cheaper, and more collaborative research. It also removes barriers that exist in for the next generation of health guidance and intervention methods.
Cross Platform Mobile EMA
Funding Source: NIH /NCI
Type: SBIR Phase II / Contract supplement
Number: HHSN261201300084C
Principal Investigator: Jon Moon, PhD
Amount: $250,000
Period: 2014 – 2015
Summary:
Develop and test a fully configurable real-time behavioral assessment system that allows researchers, without additional programming, to
- construct EMA/ESM protocols
- administer these researcher- configured protocols to study participants on their smartphone (iPhone and Android))
- make the data from these protocols available to researchers on an ongoing basis, and 4) integrate real-time physiologic and/or environmental assessments using phone or paired-wireless sensors together with behavioral assessments
Integrating Voluntary Geographic Information and Public Data
Funding Source: NIH /NCI
Type: SBIR Phase I / Contract
Number: HHSN261201400034C
Principal Investigator: Jon Moon, PhD
Amount: $199,769
Period: 2014 – 2015
Summary:
Researchers and public planners need simple and efficient means to combine public data resources (Health.gov and GIS maps) interactively with other sources of data at a local level. Working with data resources currently is ad hoc, expensive and cumbersome because there are no common schemas or interfaces. Further, no systems combine immediate objective and subjective information with large-scale resources. We designed manipulation tools to merge data from different resources and enable them to be explored easily in combination and with visualization tools. Completed analyses would then be shared to other users as output (report) or processing templates. The tools promise improvement in limiting chronic disease, assuring access to health resources and improving quality of life in the built environment.
This project created a prototype platform to combine and visualize data that will improve communication between researchers and policy makers. A further innovation was combining data from facilitated volunteer-contributed geographic information (f-VGI) with other GIS coded data. A prototype f-VGI was tested in a community mapping application with smartphones capturing facilitated user input and location. Results were compared between expert and non-expert assessors. Data suggest that reasonably comparable analysis can be achieved using non-expert crowd-sourced f-VGI vs. the time and expense of using more traditional techniques. Phase II will complete a system that allows investigators to conduct health assessments, particularly with geo-spatial data, without needing special training or support in programming, information technologies or geographic analysis.