Like other faculty members of theLink Labat the University of Virginia School of Engineering, Laura Barnes works at the intersection of data science and physical systems. In this case, though, the systems she is interested in are not bridges or buildings but human beings. Barnes, an associate professor of engineering systems and environment and director of the Sensing Systems for Health Lab, is exploring devices that can produce a continuous, real-time record of an individual's health, setting the stage for more effective personalized care. “Traditional methods for assessing and treating illness often require patients to travel to appointments with a trained clinician. This presents both cost and scalability issues,†Barnes said. “Furthermore, these in-person assessments often fail to capture the real-life experience of individuals suffering from memory limitation and recall bias.†Smart devices such as smartphones and wearables offer a way to put these in-person assessments in context. Working in the background, they could produce data streams that would give clinicians a broader view of their patients' health — and even alert them to changes that might require immediate intervention, saving lives. For patients without access to a clinician, these electronic health interventions could make much needed treatment a reality. In essence, the enabling technology for the next great advance in medical technology may already be on peoples' wrists or in their pockets. “Using advanced data science and machine learning techniques, the data generated by our smart devices could reveal a great deal about the health of individuals,†Barnes said. “They might give you an idea, for instance, about their physical activities, their moods and even their social networks.â€