Imagine a world where healthcare is personalized, precise, and intuitive. Dr. Azizi Seixas is working to make that a reality. Solving healthcare challenges takes more than sophisticated new tools—it takes continuous streams of good data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and a deep understanding of how to effect sustainable behavior change across the four pillars of health: sleep, physical activity, diet & nutrition, and stress management. With this comprehensive new approach, we can transform healthcare.

Dr. Seixas is an Associate Professor at the Miller School of Medicine, and Director of The Media and Innovation Lab. Dr. Seixas’ research broadly focuses on three areas:

• multilevel determinants of sleep and cardiovascular disease disparities;
• long-term health consequences of cardiovascular disease (CVD) disparities; and,
• developing adaptive, group-tailored, and personalized behavior modification interventions, with the use of machine learning analytical tools, to improve health and well-being.

 

Azizi Seixas, PhD
Director, IDSC Population Health Informatics

Azizi Seixas, PhD came to the University of Miami from New York University Medical School. A Sleep and Circadian Sciences expert, Dr. Seixas is also an innovator, scientist, thought leader, and technologist. Voted one of the top 100 most inspiring Black Scientists in America by Cell Press, he believes in health and wellness for all through disruptive and scalable innovation. Dr. Seixas has authored over 150 high-impact publications, book chapters, and conference presentations, and his work appears in media outlets like CBS, CNN, NBC, Associated Press, and The Guardian.

An Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Miller School of Medicine,  Dr. Seixas is also Director of The Media and Innovation Lab (“The MIL”). Launched in December 2021, The MIL is an ambitious endeavor to innovate, accelerate, and disseminate accessible and effective health and wellness technologies. The MIL is focused on five key components of academic medicine, including: medical education, clinical care, research, community service and outreach, and venture opportunities. With these pillars in mind, at The MIL Dr. Seixas will drive transformative health care innovation and outcomes for South Florida, the region, and the global community.

For the past 10 years, Dr. Seixas has conducted extensive research on the multilevel determinants of brain and mental health, aging, and cardiovascular disease disparities, the long-term health consequences of cardiovascular disease and brain health disparities, and developing adaptive, group-tailored, and personalized behavior modification interventions. Dr. Seixas has also explored the use of machine learning analytical tools and AI to improve health and well-being—work he plans on furthering at The MIL. (Read more at INVENTUM.)

Growing up in inner-city Jamaica, Dr. Seixas got his drive from his hard-working single mother who earned a college, then a Master’s degree while working full-time. He shares (on his website) that his passion came from his force-of-nature grandmother, who taught him to question the status quo. “The two things in life that level off human beings are death and education,” she told young Azizi. who both empowered him to pursue an education. Soon after earning his PhD in Clinical Psychology, Dr. Seixas had the opportunity to participate in a sleep and behavioral summer training at New York University, which sparked his passion for sleep as an often overlooked pillar of health. “Solving healthcare challenges takes more than sophisticated new tool” Dr. Seixas says, “It takes continuous streams of good data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and a deep understanding of how to effect sustainable behavior change across the four pillars of health: sleep, physical activity, diet and nutrition, and stress management.”

 

 

Mairead Eastin Moloney, PhD
Associate Professor, IDSC Population Health Informatics