Wendy Nilsen PhD

Wendy Nilsen, Ph.D. is a Health Scientist Administrator at the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) and the Program Director for the Smart and Connected Health program at NSF. Wendy’s scientific focus is on the science of human behavior and behavior change, including: utilizing technology to better understand and improve health, adherence, the mechanisms of behavior change and behavioral interventions in complex patients in primary care. More specifically, her efforts in mobile and wireless health (mHealth) research include: serving as the NIH lead for the NSF/NIH Smart and Connected Health announcement, convening meetings to address methodology in mobile technology research; serving on numerous federal mHealth initiatives; and, leading the NIH mHealth training institutes. Wendy is also the chair of the Adherence Network, a trans-NIH effort to enhance and develop the science of adherence.

She is also a member of the Science of Behavior Change, Health Economics and HMO Collaboratory working groups. These projects are initiatives funded through the Common Fund that target behavioral and social sciences research to improve health across a wide range of domains. Wendy also chairs the NIH Integrating Health Strategies workgroup that supports the science of behavioral treatments for patients with multiple chronic conditions in primary care. At NSF, she leads the Smart Health program which targets science at the intersection between computer science, engineering, medicine and health, broadly defined.