Intelligent Futures Research Lab

The Intelligent Futures Research Lab (IFRL), led by Dr. Emre Sezgin, is dedicated to building a healthier future for individuals, children, and families through innovative, intelligent methods grounded in rigorous scientific research and development. We go beyond digital —engaging with people, communities and technologies to develop human-centered innovations. Our mission is to improve health outcomes by ethically observing behaviors and developing equitable, evidence-based tools. IFRL collaborates with healthcare providers, interdisciplinary researchers, families, and partners from communities, industry, and academia across the country to maximize its impact. Focus Areas: Digital Health Innovation Designing and developing mobile apps, wearable technologies, voice assistants, and chatbots as part of multimodal systems to support health and wellness. Behavioral Health Integration Applying behavioral theories and frameworks to enhance the health of individuals and populations, especially those in underserved communities. Sensor-Based Health Insights Using consumer-grade sensors and mobile devices to detect and quantify health conditions, creating novel digital biomarkers and clinical endpoints. AI and Data Science for Health Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) with diverse data sources—including clinical records and patient-generated data—to predict health outcomes, support prevention, and aid in decision-making for families and healthcare providers. Emerging Technologies in Health Exploring and prototyping with augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed and extended reality (MR/XR), digital twin technologies, and generative AI to shape the future of healthcare.