Accelerating digital intervention science
The easiest way to create, share, and evaluate sophisticated digital interventions.
Created by Researchers, for Researchers
Founded by a behavioral scientist, CIAS has been evolving for over 15 years. The system has received funding from multiple federal research grants, and has had results published in many scientific journals.
Human-centered Approach
The latest iteration of CIAS was designed from the ground up - incorporating years of feedback from researchers as well as participants, using an intensive human-centered design approach.
Meet the CIAS Team
We are a team of passionate researchers united under a single mission. We spread and elevate the level of health and happiness, one meaningful intervention at a time.
Investigative Team
Alli Spiller, MSI, MSW
User Experience Researcher
University of Michigan
Mary Katherine Crawford, MPH
Public Health Researcher Michigan State University
Advisory Board
Development Team
Acknowledgments
CIAS has undergone many iterations since its inception in 2004, every version of which has informed subsequent releases. The present version, CIAS 3.0, is no exception: although the code is completely new, it is nevertheless a direct descendant of its predecessors--and as such benefits directly from the input and support of a very long list of people and organizations. That list is too long to adequately capture here. But special recognition is certainly due to the Wayne State University Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences, whose initial investment was the impetus for all that followed; to Advisory Board member Dr. Dace Svikis, who has been an invaluable mentor, supporter, and champion since the beginning; to NIDA, NIAAA, and the CDC, who funded many trials testing digital interventions developed using CIAS; to the long list of Principal Investigators who have studied interventions built with CIAS and contributed to its success, including (but not limited to) Drs. Emily Spence, Sylvie Naar, Heidi Hutton, Karen Cropsey, Mary Velasquez, Amy Loree, Jordan Braciszewski, Deborah Ellis, Karen MacDonell, Angulique Outlaw, Kirk Von Sternberg, Geetanjali Chander, Mary E. McCaul, Kimberly Yonkers, Steve Martino, Jan Gryczynski, April Carcone, Golfo Tzilos, Emily Grekin, and Caron Zlotnick; to the research teams working with the aforementioned Principal Investigators, whose struggles with older versions of this tool have not been forgotten; and finally to my own research team--especially Dr. Sara Chase, Ms. Nancy Lockhart, and Dr. Jessi Beatty--whose efforts were so critical to the success of earlier CIAS projects.
The above of course is only the beginning, since the newest version of CIAS is most certainly a team effort. Special thanks go out to the brilliant and dedicated team at HTD, whose personal investment in CIAS as an open resource for science has made it a far better tool than I could have imagined; to UX researchers Alli Spiller and Brianna Broderick, who have tirelessly kept this project moving forward, while ensuring that users' needs are central to the design; to the MSU Technology, Health IT, and legal teams, who did not realize what they were in for when I joined their university; and last but certainly not least to our funder, the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, whose support for digital health research infrastructure has the potential to dramatically accelerate health science.
-Steve