Research

"Digital phenotyping, the measurement of human behavioral phenotypes using personal devices, is rapidly gaining popularity. Novel initiatives, ranging from software prototypes to user-ready research platforms, are innovating the field of biomedical research and health care apps. One example is the Behapp project, which offers a fully managed digital phenotyping platform as a service. The innovative potential of digital phenotyping strategies resides among others in their capacity to objectively capture measurable and quantitative components of human behavior, such as diurnal rhythm, movement patterns, and communication, in a real-world setting." (Jagesar et al. 2021)

Publications

We approach digital phenotyping from a multidisciplinary perspective, always looking to support new scientific endeavours and improve the instrumentation itself.

Publication title
Digital behavioural signatures reveal trans-diagnostic clusters of Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease patients
Publication date
2023
Published in
European Neuropsychopharmacology
Website
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924977X23006880
Publication title
Assessment of Social Behavior Using a Passive Monitoring App in Cognitively Normal and Cognitively Impaired Older Adults: Observational Study
Publication date
2022
Published in
JMIR Aging
Website
https://aging.jmir.org/2022/2/e33856
Publication title
Requirements and Operational Guidelines for Secure and Sustainable Digital Phenotyping: Design and Development Study.
Publication date
2021
Published in
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Website
https://www.jmir.org/2021/4/e20996/
Publication title
Digital phenotyping and the COVID-19 pandemic: Capturing behavioral change in patients with psychiatric disorders.
Publication date
2021
Published in
European Neuropsychopharmacology
Website
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2020.11.012
Publication title
A Study of Novel Exploratory Tools, Digital Technologies, and Central Nervous System Biomarkers to Characterize Unipolar Depression.
Publication date
2021
Published in
Frontiers in Psychiatry
Website
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.640741
Publication title
A framework for assessing neuropsychiatric phenotypes by using smartphone-based location data.
Publication date
2020
Published in
Translational Psychiatry
Website
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-020-00893-4
Publication title
Effect of disease related biases on the subjective assessment of social functioning in Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia patients.
Publication date
2020
Published in
Journal of Psychiatric Research
Website
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.11.013
Publication title
New European privacy regulation: Assessing the impact for digital medicine innovations.
Publication date
2018
Published in
European Psychiatry
Website
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.07.003
Publication title
The sociability score: App-based social profiling from a healthcare perspective.
Publication date
2016
Published in
Computers in Human Behavior
Website
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.01.024

Projects & Partnerships

We are and have been part of multiple (large scale) research programmes featuring multi-center studies in Europe and the North America’s.

Project name
Lifelines
Period
2022
Funding source
University research funding (PI: Prof. dr. Martien Kas)
Duration
2 years
Description
In this population-based cohorts, Behapp based digital measures of social functioning will be validated. Furthermore, the relationship between these digital measures of social functioning and genetics will be determined.
Expected Sample Size
2000
Project name
PRISM 2
Period
2021
Funding source
Innovative Medicine Iniative (IMI) EU funding
Duration
3 years
Description
PRISM 2 builds on PRISM outcomes and will determine the reproducibility of the transdiagnostic and pathophysiological relationship between default mode network (DMN) integrity and social dysfunction in Schizophrenia and Alzheimer disease and determine its potential to generalise to Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The Behapp service is implemented to validate digital and transdiagnostic measures for daily social functioning.
Expected Sample Size
180
Project name
PSY-PGx
Period
2021
Funding source
EU Horizon 2020
Duration
5 years
Description
The Behapp service will be implemented in the clinical trial for passive and active patient monitoring in daily psychiatric care in 9 inclusion sites across Europe. Based on the longitudinal collected smartphone data, Behapp behavioural endpoint measures will be derived and will be integrated in the project with other quantitative biological measures to develop an implementation strategy of pharmacogenetics-based personalised medicine in psychiatry.
Expected Sample Size
2500
Project name
NESDA
Period
2020
Funding source
ZonMw / geestkracht program (first ten years) & University Research funding (next 10 years)
Duration
-
Description
The NESDA study is an ongoing longitudinal cohort study with the aim of studying the long term prognosis of anxiety and depression in order to contribute to better quality of care and prevention of chronicity. Information on biological factors, psychiatric symptoms, health, demographics, work, used care and social activity is collected to achieve this goal.
Expected Sample Size
3100
Project name
ZonMW Memorable
Period
2018
Funding source
ZonMW - Memorable program
Duration
5 years
Description
Environment plays an important role in the development of dementia. Environmental factors that indicate poor social health such as lack of social support and loneliness are presumed to increase the risk of dementia. In this project, we put forward the hypothesis that factors improving social health will slow down the development of cognitive decline and dementia by influencing brain health. The Behapp service will be implemented in this study to validate digital indicators of social health as predictors of cognitive decline and dementia.
Expected Sample Size
500
Project name
SMARD
Period
2017
Funding source
Dutch Brain Foundation
Duration
Ongoing
Description
We aim to improve our understanding of the neurobiological background of resilience and who is most at risk for the recurrence of depression. For these studies, Behapp will be implemented in this study to identify new digital markers for relapse in depression.
Expected Sample Size
170
Project name
ROADMAP
Period
2016
Funding source
Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) EU funding
Duration
3 years
Description
The “Real world Outcomes across the Alzheimer’sDisease spectrum for better care: Multi-modal data Access Platform” (ROADMAP)project aimed to provide the foundation for an integrated data environment andframework for real-world evidence (RWE) in Alzheimer’s disease).  The Behapp service wasimplemented in this study to study digital measures for dailyfunctioning in Alzheimer’s disease patients.
Expected Sample Size
286
Project name
PRISM
Period
2016
Funding source
Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) EU funding
Duration
4 years
Description
This project aims to develop a quantitative biological approach to theunderstanding and classification of neuropsychiatric diseases to accelerate thediscovery and development of better treatments for patients. As the projectcoordinator of this EU Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) project, we aim tounpick the biological reasons underlying social dysfunction, which is a commonearly symptom of, Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease and Major DepressiveDisorder.  The Behapp service isimplemented to provide novel digital and transdiagnostic measures for dailysocial functioning.
Expected Sample Size
160