The Florida State University College of Nursing has been awarded $1.96 million through the National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award to develop and test an artificial intelligence-powered intervention that delivers personalized behavioral health support to people who use problematic substances.
Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and led by Assistant Professor Liying Wang, the project will support the development and testing of a program called Glow. This generative AI-powered, just-in-time adaptive intervention will provide personalized dialectical behavior therapy skills coaching to people who are at risk for HIV or substance use. The research will explore how AI can reduce health risks associated with HIV and substance use by safely delivering personalized behavioral health skills and coping strategies when individuals need them most.
“By combining the patient-centered perspective of nursing with evidence-based behavioral interventions and emerging AI technologies, this work has the potential to make personalized support timelier and more responsive to individual needs,” Wang said. “Ultimately, we hope to explore how these technologies can safely extend the reach of care and improve patient outcomes.”
Wang is a member of the FSU College of Nursing’s Institute on Digital Health and Innovation (IDHI) and the Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment (CPSHE). Her research brings together nursing, behavioral health, substance use and HIV prevention, clinical research and artificial intelligence.
The project reflects the FSU College of Nursing’s growing focus on integrating AI and emerging technologies into nursing research, education and practice. Through initiatives such as IDHI, the college continues to explore new ways to harness AI to advance nursing science, strengthen healthcare delivery and prepare nurses to lead in a quickly growing technology-driven field.
“Artificial intelligence is helping us pave the way for how we understand and deliver healthcare, and nurses must be at the forefront of shaping how these technologies are used,” said Lisa Hightow-Weidman, associate dean for research for the FSU College of Nursing and co-director for the Institute on Digital Health and Innovation. “Dr. Wang’s work exemplifies the kind of interdisciplinary, high-impact research that can move digital health innovation forward while keeping patients and their care at the center.”
To learn more about the innovative research at the FSU College of Nursing and Institute on Digital Health & Innovation, visit nursing.fsu.edu.