Mobile Toolbox Leadership Team
The Mobile Toolbox team includes measurement scientists, clinicians, cognitive researchers, and technical experts with a proven history of success in multiple large-scale validation and development projects.
Richard C Gershon, PhD
is Division Chief of Outcome and Measurement Science in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. As Principal Investigator (PI) for the Mobile Toolbox, he oversees the development of remote, self-administered assessments for smartphones. He also continues to lead the development of the NIH Toolbox, the NIH Baby Toolbox and the technology for PROMIS. His current grant leadership includes acting as MPI for the ECHO Measurement Core and PI for ARMCADA (developing measures of decision making for aging adults).
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Elizabeth Dworak, PhD, MS
is an Assistant Professor for the Division of Outcome and Measurement Science and the Division of Determinants of Health in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. In her role as a Co-Investigator and Co-Project lead on the Mobile Toolbox, she serves as the Scientific Director and Project Lead. In these roles, Dr. Dworak oversees the day-to-day functions and responsibilities of the MTB Project, specifically focusing on the development and adaptation of new MTB measures, the validation of these measures, data collection, and norming activities.
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Aaron J Kaat, PhD
is the Data Core lead for the Mobile Toolbox 2 initiative. He is a skilled measurement scientist and methodologist with expertise in item response theory modeling, modern validity theory, and other psychometric techniques. As part of the Data Core, Dr. Kaat also leads efforts for data management, data quality assurance, and measure curation efforts.
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Alex Cheng, PhD
is a Research Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Technical Co-lead for the Mobile Toolbox. His research centers on combining data from a diverse range of sources to improve clinical research. Dr. Cheng applies his expertise by developing and evaluating informatics innovation through the NCATS Trial Innovation Center and Recruitment Innovation Center. He is an active member of the REDCap Consortium, helping to develop, implement, and disseminate REDCap integrations with electronic health record systems (Clinical Data Interoperability Services), participant-reported outcomes, and mobile device assessments (MyCap).
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Maria Varela Diaz
is Technical Co-lead for the Mobile Toolbox, where she led measure development and co-managed the integration of measures and platform components. She has led product development across NIH Toolbox, Baby Toolbox, and Mobile Toolbox, bringing 30 years of experience in software development and enterprise projects. Her work applies software lifecycle principles to deliver robust and innovative products across research-driven initiatives.
Rachel Nosheny, PhD
is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). She is the Principal Investigator of the UCSF Brain Health Registry, a large, online, national cohort to facilitate clinical neuroscience research. Dr. Nosheny leads the Mobile Toolbox project at UCSF, which is investigating the feasibility, usability, and validity of remote, unsupervised, longitudinal Mobile Toolbox assessment in the Brain Health Registry.
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Cindy Nowinski, MD, PhD
is a health services researcher and Research Professor in the Departments of Medical Social Sciences and Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She serves as the Dissemination Co-lead for the Mobile Toolbox. Dr. Nowinski is trained as a clinical psychologist and physician and her research focuses on improving health and healthcare quality through the development and application of outcome measures to clinical research and care.
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Julie N Hook, PhD, MBA, ABPP-CN
is a Research Associate Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist, and Dissemination Co-lead for the Mobile Toolbox. She oversees licensing and distribution for the NIH Toolbox®, NIH Baby Toolbox®, and Mobile Toolbox, enabling scalable measurement of cognition, sensation, and emotion across the lifespan in research and clinical settings. Her research focuses on innovation in assessment design and scalable digital approaches to cognitive measurement.
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Mobile Toolbox Collaborators
(presented in alphabetical order)
- Deanna Barch, PhD – Washington University, St. Louis
- Robert Heaton, PhD – University of California, San Diego
- James J. Lah, MD, PhD – Emory University
- Dorene Rentz, PsyD – Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital
- Martin Sliwinski, PhD – Pennsylvania State University
- Michael Weiner, MD – University of California, San Francisco; Brain Health Registry
Mobile Toolbox Contributors
(presented in alphabetical order)
- Courtney Blackwell, PhD – Co-Investigator
- Y. Catherine Han, PhD – Co-Investigator
- Miriam Novack, PhD – Co-Investigator
- Sarah Pila, PhD – Co-Investigator
- William Revelle, PhD – Co-Investigator
- Jerry Slotkin, PhD – Co-Investigator, University of Delaware
- Stephanie Ruth Young, PhD – Co-Investigator
- Jiwon Kim, PhD, Post-Doctoral Scholar
- Hubert Adam, MS – Data Manager
- Anastasia Shvaykovskaya – Quality Assurance Specialist
- Anyelo Almonte Correa, MS – Project Manager
- Joseph Fellows – Quality Assurance
- Zahra Hosseinian, MA – Project Manager
- Irina Kontsevaia, MSCIS, CISSP – Senior Software Developer
- Shalini Patel, BS – Senior Software Developer
- Pranav Rajiv, MS – Software Developer
- Vitali Ustsinovich, MA – Sr. Project Manager
- Augusta K. Zukauskas – Research Data Analyst
- Helium Foot – Developers
- Optima Quality Solutions, LLC – Quality Assurance