Oct 9 2015
The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded $4 million, through July 2020, for a research project led by principal investigator Honghu Liu, a UCLA professor of public health and community dentistry.
Professor Honghu Liu
“Measuring and Monitoring Adherence to ART with Pill Ingestion Sensor System” will study the use of a state-of-the-art ingestible sensor system to measure and monitor adherence to antiretroviral medications in HIV-AIDS patients.
Liu will lead a team of researchers from Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Nebraska Medical Center, Yale University and Harvard University in studying the FDA-approved Proteus Digital Health Feedback (PDHF) Information Technology, a pill-ingestible sensor system. PDHF uses a tiny, edible sensor that is over-encapsulated along with medication. When ingested, it is sensed by a patch with an embedded monitor and sensor that is worn by the patient. The monitor sends a Bluetooth signal to a mobile device, which in turn sends an encrypted message to a central server that records, in real-time, that a dose of medication has just been taken.
Liu’s team will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and sustainability of using the PDHF system, assess its accuracy and evaluate its efficacy for monitoring and leveraging adherence to medications. The research is intended as a significant step forward in measuring and monitoring medication adherence in HIV-AIDS patients and developing real-time interventions in a population which requires heightened medical surveillance.
Liu, who holds a Ph.D. in biostatistics from UCLA, has more than two decades of experience in study design, data analysis and statistical modeling. He has conducted extensive research in a broad range of topics that include medicine, dentistry, health services research and public health.