Meet the Women Leading the Future of Digital Health
As we reach the end of Women’s History Month, I want to reflect on the impact women are having in our Center. From day one, the Duke Center for Computational and Digital Health Innovation was designed to bring together diverse voices, disciplines, and perspectives — and that includes making space for more women to lead in this field.
Women are helping to shape every facet of our work at the Center. More than 30 percent of our team members are women, contributing across all areas — from faculty leadership to student research. As the Center’s director, I’m proud to count myself among them.
Our team includes:
- Six women faculty members, representing fields such as biomedical engineering, anesthesiology, computer science, biostatistics, and electrical and computer engineering
- 16 women trainees, including graduate students, Ph.D. candidates, and undergraduates
These women are helping define the direction of our work:
Faculty
- Leah Acker, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
- Monica Agrawal, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics
- Jessilyn Dunn, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
- Maria Gorlatova, Ph.D., Nortel Networks Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Lisa Wu Wills, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Trainees and students
- Angela Capawana, undergraduate student
- Chloe Joy Chang, undergraduate student
- Isabel Davis, undergraduate student
- Ella Etchandy, undergraduate student
- Guinevere Ferreira, graduate student
- Ella Fortenbery, undergraduate student
- Kylie Gancos, undergraduate student
- Juliet Jiang, undergraduate student
- Crystal Kennedy, graduate student
- Nusrat Khan, graduate student
- Samreen Mahmud, Ph.D. candidate
- Japneet Mavi, graduate student
- Irida Shyti, graduate student
- Sudiksha Sridhar
- Kathryn Turk
- Melissa Wu, graduate student
- Wendy Wu, graduate student
Spotlight on Recent Presentations
The women on our team are shaping national and international conversations around computational and digital health. Recent talks include:
Edge and IoT-Supported Intelligent and Augmented Reality: Promise, Challenges, and Solutions
Maria Gorlatova, Ph.D.
In this talk, Dr. Gorlatova explored the future of augmented reality (AR) through the lens of mobile and wearable computing. She outlined a vision for multi-device, edge-supported AR systems integrated with the Internet of Things (IoT), aiming to create more intelligent, adaptive, and context-aware digital environments.
Dr. Gorlatova’s research focuses on adaptive, intelligent behavior in IoT systems and spans architecture, algorithms, and cross-layer design. A recipient of the Google Anita Borg Fellowship and several prestigious paper awards, she brings both academic and industry experience to her work at the intersection of AR, IoT, and edge computing.
The Digital Physiome: Wearables for Disease Detection and Monitoring
Jessilyn Dunn, Ph.D.
This talk explored how wearable technologies can be used to detect and monitor disease through digital biomarkers. Covering topics such as challenges in digital biomarker discovery and real-world applications to influenza-like illness and COVID-19, Dr. Dunn outlined the potential of data-driven insights to transform public health and chronic disease management.
Dr. Dunn directs the BIG IDEAs Lab, which aims to detect, treat, and prevent chronic and acute diseases through digital health innovation. She leads multiple federally funded studies on digital biomarkers and health monitoring and is a recognized voice in the digital health space, with coverage in Wired, TIME, and the NIH Director’s Blog.
Digital Twins in Healthcare: Using Advanced Modeling to Shift from Reactive to Proactive Care
Amanda Randles, Ph.D.
In this talk, I shared how digital twins—high-fidelity virtual models of human anatomy—can help clinicians move from reactive treatment to proactive, personalized care. My talk focused on simulations of the vascular system, showcasing how these models are used to noninvasively assess and predict conditions like arterial stenosis and to improve surgical planning.
My lab focuses on high-performance computing and simulation tools that help model disease development in the body. My work bridges engineering and medicine, delivering tools that improve diagnostic precision and therapeutic planning.
I believe it’s important that the future of healthcare is built by teams that reflect the full spectrum of human experience. We’re proud of the women in our Center helping to shape the future of computational and digital health — and we know our work is stronger because of them.
If you’re a student, researcher, or collaborator looking to join an innovative and collaborative community, we invite you to connect with us.