Supervising Faculty: Carissa Low, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine

Contact: Carissa Low, carissa.low@pitt.edu

Area of Research: Health psychology

Description of Research:  We are conducting several studies aimed at using mobile technology to detect behavior and mood changes and to promote health behaviors during cancer treatment. These studies focus on patients with cancer who are undergoing or who have completed surgery or chemotherapy. Our research uses smartphones and wearable sensors to track changes in physical activity, sleep, and symptoms during treatment.

Duties of Students:

• Preparing study documents and equipment
• Monitoring and managing patient-centered data
• Communicating with study participants by phone, email, or mail or in-person as appropriate
• Conducting bibliographic searches and literature reviews
• Attending weekly lab meetings
• If interested, analyzing data to write honors thesis and/or papers

Requirements:

• Overall GPA of 3.0 or higher
• 12 credits of Psychology (including current term)
• STAT 0200/1000/1100 Statistics
• PSY 0036 Research Methods Lecture
• PSY 0037 Research Methods Lab
• Minimum two-semester commitment

Recruitment Process:  Students who contact me are encouraged to send me their CV or resume so I can evaluate whether they have any prior research, patient-facing, or leadership experience indicative of the maturity and sensitivity required for our patient-facing research and whether their academic record to date suggests a long-standing interest in health psychology/medicine. Students who seem to be potentially good fit are scheduled for an interview with me so that I can learn more about their previous experiences and future goals and so that they can learn more about our research.

Terms offered: Fall, Spring, Summer

Number of Students: 4

Lab website:  www.bot-lab.org; www.moshi.pitt.edu