TTRN Announces Graduate-Level Course June 23-26, 2035 at UC Berkeley and UC Davis Health:
Smart Health, Social Robotics and AI: Research Design, Value Assessment and Implementation
June 23-26, 2025
Locations: University of California Berkeley & University of California Davis Health, Sacramento
The Transatlantic Telehealth Research Network (TTRN) PhD Course 2025, in collaboration with CITRIS Health, provides high-achieving and ambitious PhD and master’s students a transformative educational experience at two world-class universities—University of California Davis Health (Sacramento) and University of California Berkeley. Our collaborative PhD course, “Smart Health, Social Robotics and AI: Research Design, Value Assessment and Implementation” will be offered June 23-26, 2025 across the two campuses. Through a combination of rigorous academics and a rich array of extra-curricular programming, the PhD course successfully shares the UC culture of innovation, academic excellence, and health equity.
CITRIS, at the University of California, is pleased to be hosting the course in 2025. The 2025 offerings will include topics such as: Next generation telehealth, smart health, social robotics, AI applications, design of research technologies, value assessment, and analysis specifically for digital health practices. This course offers a unique opportunity for those interested in global, developmental, participatory and implementation research in health.
Next generation telehealth, smart health, social robotics, AI applications, design of digital health technologies, value assessment of technologies, and implementation specifically for health care. The course offers an unique opportunity for those interested in developmental, participatory and implementation research in health.
Course objective
The aim of the weeklong course is to give a comprehensive introduction to developmental, participatory and implementation research methods and applications used in the different phases of the innovation process for digital health technologies such as telehealth, home monitoring, mHealth, video consultation, artificial intelligence, clinical rand social robotics, and more.
Course participants will learn about the following areas of digital health:
- Phases in the innovation process: Overview of transformative work in the TTRN ecosystem
- Research methods I: Study design, deployment, evaluation
- Research methods II: Implementation Science (healthcare environments) and Team Science (industry, community environments)
- Multidisciplinary approaches and assessments for global impact
- Application and discussion of research methods in PhD projects
The course will host interdisciplinary and international faculty and students from the fields of medicine, nursing, health policy and engineering. It is an opportunity for targeted deep dives and opportunities for:
- Fostering international strategic collaborations and knowledge sharing
- Participating in a bespoke immersive learning experience
- Networking designed specifically for health innovators
Participant experiences have been very positive with almost all students rating the course as highly relevant and stating that they would recommend the course to others.
Course Chairs
- Veronica Ahumada-Newhart, Ph.D., Director of the Technology and Social Connectedness Lab, Assistant Professor, Health Informatics & Human-Robot Interaction, University of California Davis, USA
- Nick Anderson, Ph.D., Cardiff Professor of Informatics, Chief, Division of Health Informatics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Chair, Health Informatics Graduate Group, University of California Davis, USA
- Birthe Dinesen, Professor, Laboratory for Welfare Technologies – Digital Health & Rehabilitation, Sport Sciences -Performance and Technology, Department of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University (AAU), DK (head)
- Kristian Kidholm, Professor, CIMT – Center for Innovative Medical Technology, Odense University Hospital, DK
We would like to have your most talented students attend this course! The course is geared towards master’s and doctoral level (or equivalent) students, but it is also valuable for practitioners with interests in international digital health collaborations. Course offerings cover essential core knowledge concepts on various aspects of digital health from research, technology solutions, team science, health practice, and more.
About the TTRN
The TTRN has a long history of connecting U.S. and Danish researchers from multiple disciplines—medicine, engineering, nursing, organizational behavior, economics and political science—to collaborate, ideate and build knowledge.
Long before COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of telehealth practices throughout the health care system, members of the TTRN were exploring ways to share their discoveries across sectors and across borders. From diagnostics to preventive care and treatment for a variety of conditions, telehealth technologies have the potential to help patients access the care they need from the safety and familiarity of home. The technologies require innovation, but so do adoption, training and best practices by clinicians.
The annual TTRN course provides a highly curated, in-person, and rigorous immersive learning journey. The course is offered alternatively in Denmark and the United States featuring lectures and experiential learning opportunities from international experts .
For more information about the TTRN, and to provide contact information for early registration, please see the program web page.
