Mobile health (mHealth) news, resources and funding for global health researchers

Mobile health, or mHealth, uses mobile technologies as tools and platforms for health research and healthcare delivery.

Although cellphones and other new technologies are increasingly used in research and health care, very limited data are available to determine their impact. Fogarty's Mobile Health: Technology and Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries program aims to support multidisciplinary teams to research possible new mHealth tools or interventions either for chronic diseases or for an array of other health issues, emphasizing the evaluation of health-related outcomes.

The collection of other online resources below includes publications, mHealth and bioinformatics software applications, and nonprofits, educational institutions and companies supporting mHealth efforts.

Recent News

• NIH More Than Triples Its Investments in Digital Health Technology Research
  NCATS News, January 3, 2025
• Fogarty fellow capitalizes on crowdsourcing to promote HIV self-testing
  Global Health Matters, May/June 2024
• Fogarty-funded mHealth projects receive NIH technology awards
  Global Health Matters, March/April 2024
• New Smartphone App Quickly Analyzes Human Motion to Aid Rehab
  NIH Record, November 10, 2023
  

NIH News and Resources

• Connected health - mobile health and telehealth
  National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)

Other Online Resources

• WHO Global Observatory for eHealth

Mobile Health and Bioinformatics Software Applications

• OpenMRS - A community-developed, open-source, enterprise electronic medical record system platform. Designed specifically to respond to those actively building and managing health systems in the developing world, where AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria afflict the lives of millions.
• Emocha (electronic mobile comprehensive health application) - An application platform developed by the Johns Hopkins researchers to work with payers, providers and health departments to reduce costs and support patients with conditions such as tuberculosis, hepatitis C and opioid addiction
• Magpi (formerly EpiSurveyor) - A free mobile phone and Web-based data collection system for international development and global health. Users can design forms, download them to phones and start collecting data in minutes.
• FrontlineSMS - Free, open-source software that turns a laptop and a mobile phone into a central communications hub. Once installed, the program enables users to send and receive text messages with groups of people through mobile phones.
• RapidSMS - A free and open-source framework for dynamic data collection, logistics coordination and communication, leveraging basic short message service (SMS) mobile phone technology.
• CONNECT/NwHIN - A software solution that lets federal agencies securely link their existing health information technology systems to the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN), an information highway for health data exchange that connects more than 20 federal agencies.

Nonprofit Organizations

• InsTEDD - An innovation lab for tools designed to strengthen networks, build community resilience and improve early detection and response to major health-related events and natural or human-caused disasters. Its mission is to harness the power of technology to improve collaboration for global health and humanitarian action.
• PopTech - A global innovation network of cutting-edge leaders, thinkers, and doers from many different disciplines, who have come together to explore the social impact of new technologies. Members of the PopTech network have collaborated on dozens of new innovations with world-changing potential, in areas ranging from mobile healthcare, carbon credits and solar energy.
• mHIMSS - A globally-focused mobile initiative offered by Healthcare Information and Management Systems (HIMSS) to drive positive, transformational change in health and healthcare through the best use of IT.

Educational Institutions

• BIOPHICS/ Mahidol University - The center of excellence for biomedical and public health informatics located at the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. The center has set its mission not only to serve Thailand’s needs but also to reach other countries, especially those in the same tropical environment.
• Indiana University Department of Informatics, School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering - Encourages interdisciplinary research projects in the field of informatics, focusing on distributed systems technology, information theory and information management, human factors and human-computer interaction and study of the social impacts of information technology.

Hardware and Communications Technology Corporations

• Apple ResearchKit - An open source framework to support medical research apps.
• Microsoft Research - Dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. Its goals are to enhance the user experience on computing devices, reduce the cost of writing and maintaining software, and invent novel computing technologies. Microsoft Research also collaborates openly with colleges and universities worldwide to advance the field of computer science.
• WellDoc - A healthcare company that develops technology-based solutions to improve diabetes outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.
  

Updated January 8, 2025