Lirio Launches Research Lab to Advance Behavioral Reinforcement Learning and Appoints John Seely Brown as Scientific Advisor

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Jan 07, 2020, 08:42 ET

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lirio, a behavior change AI company that uses personalized engagement to improve health outcomes, formed a new research and development lab to develop behavior change AI solutions. The company also announced tech industry veteran John Seely Brown will be joining the lab as scientific advisor.

The Behavioral Reinforcement Learning Lab (BReLL) aims to re-shape the current understanding of how behavior change and AI come together to address some of the most stubbornly persistent challenges in healthcare: patient engagement, care gaps, and improved health outcomes.

"The marriage of AI and behavioral science offers the most promising solution to getting people engaged and acting in health-enhancing ways," according to Chandra Osborn, PhD., MPH, chief behavioral officer for Lirio, and co-leader of the new lab. "Few companies incorporate both, and even fewer combine the strengths of AI and behavioral science into engaging solutions that work. I am eager to share discoveries and insights from our new lab with our growing network of clients and partners."

BReLL is jointly led by Christopher Symons, PhD, and chief artificial intelligence scientist for Lirio, who is working with Osborn to assemble a cross functional group of highly experienced research fellows and scientific advisors to create industry leading solutions in behavior change AI. Lirio anticipates adding three additional research scientists in the first half of 2020.

"Behavior is a huge driver of health outcomes, but changing behaviors is extremely difficult," added Symons. "Lirio is actively creating some of the most interesting datasets on which to learn and improve machine learning techniques, and to take advantage of behavior change expertise. I am very excited to have some of the brightest minds in the world join us through the Behavioral Reinforcement Learning Lab."

Joining the lab as scientific advisor is John Seely Brown, who has spent the bulk of his career focused on how an increasingly digital culture drives a need for continuous learning and adaptability. He is currently the independent co-chairman for Deloitte's Center for the Edge. The Center pursues research on institutional innovation and a reimagined work environment built on ubiquitous computing, IoT, Intelligent Automation/Artificial Intelligence, and the need for constant learning and adaptability. He is also a visiting scholar and adviser to the provost at the University of Southern California, where he facilitates collaboration between the schools for communication and media and the Institute for Creative Technologies. Previously, Brown was chief scientist at Xerox Corporation and director of its Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and was a member of Amazon's board of directors for 14 years.

"While at PARC, I expanded its focus to include cutting edge research into the social sciences like anthropology, sociology, cognitive sciences, and user centering design," said Brown. "These continue to be incredibly meaningful and fertile research topics, and I'm excited to collaborate with the team at Lirio to explore how they can be combined with AI to motivate people to make better decisions about their health."

About Lirio

Lirio's behavior change AI platform moves people along their unique journey to better health through person-centered communication. The company brings together the power of behavioral science with artificial intelligence to learn the most effective way to communicate with people in a particular context. That insight is applied to create personalized behavior change programs for health systems and large employers —resulting in improved engagement and outcomes. For more information, visit https://lirio.com.

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SOURCE Lirio