Bio
Michele L. Patel, PhD is an Instructor at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on optimizing digital health interventions for treating & preventing obesity. She is particularly interested in improving engagement in these interventions and examining the impact of psychosocial factors on treatment success.
Dr. Patel received a K23 career development award from NIH (2022-2027). This work investigates the most potent combination of self-monitoring strategies in a behavioral weight loss intervention for adults with overweight or obesity. Dr. Patel is interested in using digital tools such as commercial apps, wearables, text-messaging, and telehealth to improve access to and engagement in treatment.
Dr. Patel received her BA in psychology from Duke University in 2010 and her PhD in clinical psychology from Duke in 2018. She completed her clinical internship at the VA Palo Alto, specializing in behavioral medicine, and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Stanford Prevention Research Center.
Primary Research Interests:
-- Conducting clinical trials to evaluate digital health interventions for obesity
-- Improving engagement in self-monitoring and other behavioral intervention strategies
-- Examining the impact of psychosocial factors (e.g., health literacy, stress) on treatment success
-- Applying the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) framework to efficiently construct behavioral interventions
Methods:
-- RCTs, including factorial designs
-- systematic reviews
-- signal detection analysis
-- mixed methods & qualitative methods