First Endometriosis Tracking Study App, Phendo, Launched by Columbia

University Researchers and Applied Informatics

New York, NY, January 06, 2017 --(PR.com)-- A team of researchers in the Department of Biomedical
Informatics at Columbia University Medical Center have launched Phendo, a research study app for
self-tracking and management of endometriosis symptoms. Developed by Applied Informatics, the
observational research app is an initiative of Columbia University's Citizen Endo project which is headed
by data scientist and Associate Professor Noemie Elhadad.
Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women and is estimated to create a $119 billion
impact on the US economy annually. The disease is caused when tissue called endometrium that normally
lines the inside of the uterus grows outside of the uterus. Endometriosis is still considered a mysterious
condition, and there are many ways in which the disease can present itself in patients. There is a
disconnect between how doctors think about the disease and what patients experience on a daily basis.
The aim of the Phendo study is to bridge the gap between patient experience of endometriosis and clinical
understanding of the disease. The Phendo app allows participants to track individual symptoms of
endometriosis, and in the process, enable them to catalogue how the disease manifests for both patient's
self-management as well as for research and clinical understanding of the disease. The Phendo research
study has been approved by the Columbia University IRB and participants consent to join the study
through the app. Women who suspect they have endometriosis or have already been diagnosed with
endometriosis are eligible as participants (other eligibility criteria include being over 13 years old and
having had at least one menstrual period). Anyone who has had at least one menstrual period in their
lifetime is eligible to use the app as a control participant.
The Citizen Endo team employs participatory design to engage patient users and build a meaningful tool
for self-tracking using both moment and day-level surveys to document users' experience of living with
the poorly understood chronic disease. This means that some features of the app are still under
development and the team is actively seeking feedback from the app's user community.
Phendo was built using Apple's ResearchKit framework. The Phendo app is differentiated from other
ResearchKit apps by capturing variables of a disease for which phenotypes are still unclear. The Citizen
Endo team partnered with Applied Informatics for this project based on their extensive experience with
Apple's ResearchKit since launching America Walks, a cross platform ResearchKit enabled study app.
Currently, Dr. Elhadad says Phendo's near 1,000 users are primarily based in the United States and New
Zealand, with participants also joining from Canada, the U.K, Australia, Europe, and south pacific
nations. The research team is looking into releasing versions in multiple languages to reflect the global
impact of endometriosis.
Phendo is available for download on Apple Store. The app is available now in iOS, with an Android
version expected sometime in 2017.

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About Citizen Endo Project, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University

Citizen Endo (citizenendo.org) is a research project based out of Columbia University's Department of
Biomedical Informatics. The team, led by Dr. Elhadad, is engaging in multiple research studies under the
Citizen Endo umbrella which focus on bridging the gap between patient experience of endometriosis and
clinical understanding of the disease. One of these projects is the Phendo app.
About Applied Informatics
Applied Informatics is a NYC based Health IT company, founded in 2008 by two graduate students of
Columbia University's Department of Biomedical Informatics. Applied Informatics built the first walking
study app, America Walks, available on both iOS and Android devices using Apple's ResearchKit library
and ResearchDroid, an Android version of ResearchKit. To learn more about developing cross-platform
Research kit apps visit: http://appliedinformaticsinc.com/mobile-researchkit-study-apps/.

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Contact Information:
Applied Informatics
Priya Menon
212 537 6944
Contact via Email
http://appliedinformaticsinc.com/

Online Version of Press Release:

You can read the online version of this press release at: http://www.pr.com/press-release/700990

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