Former Michael J. Fox Foundation Data Science Executive Ken Kubota Joins Digital Health Company Beneufit’s Advisory Board
SAN FRANCISCO, Ca (PRWEB) August 30, 2016 -- Beneufit, Inc, a digital health company that combines disease-specific software with mobile devices and data analytics to improve patient outcomes announced that Ken Kubota, former Director of Data Science for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) has joined Beneufit’s advisory board to provide strategic guidance on measuring Parkinson's disease symptoms with mobile devices and sensors.
“We met Ken in 2013 when he was running Andy Gove’s Kinetics Foundation where he pioneered the measurement of movement disorder symptoms objectively by developing a home-based testing device and mobile apps that measure mobility and dexterity.” says Beneufit CEO Jeff Broderick “Ken and his team were very influential in how we approached the problem of measuring motor control outside a lab environment with our finger tapping test on mobile devices. We’re thrilled to have Ken onboard.”
Beneufit’s pdFIT™ mobile app works with wireless sensors and empowers Parkinson’s disease patients to alter the course of their disease. The goal of the program is to reduce symptoms, delay disease progression and improve quality of life by leveraging exercise.
This is accomplished by coaching people through exercise protocols designed for Parkinson’s disease patients and continuously monitoring patient health with an easy-to-use, mobile device-based manual dexterity test (circleTap™), which allows patients and their providers to better track their movement performance status and improvements over time.
“Having been engaged in Parkinson’s disease research for over 12 years, I believe in exercise’s positive impact on symptoms and disease progression. The Benefit approach is unique in that mobile device software and wearables coach people through exercise protocols scientifically validated to improve outcomes and objectively measure symptoms like manual dexterity and mobility through a single software solution.” explains Mr. Kubota. “It is a very patient-centric and data-driven approach to a challenging problem.”
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease for which there is growing evidence of exercise’s positive impact on symptoms and disease progression.* Cycling in particular has been shown to improve outcomes in numerous studies. **, *** The foundation of the Beneufit digital health treatment approach lies in the high-cadence cycling benefits discovered by Dr. Jay Alberts of the Cleveland Clinic.”****
Beneufit will be presenting insights from their service "Improving Parkinson’s Disease Outcomes with Mobile Software and Wearables Therapy" at the World Parkinson's Congress in Portland Oregon, September 21-23, 2016.
About Beneufit, Inc.
Beneufit is a digital health company that combines disease-specific software with mobile devices, wearables and data analytics to monitor and change behavior in a manner that improves medical outcomes, while supporting vital public health research in an open and ongoing fashion. More information is available at http://www.beneufit.com.
References
*Ridgel, Angela L., Corey A. Peacock, Emily J. Fickes, and Chul-Ho Kim. "Active-Assisted Cycling Improves Tremor and Bradykinesia in Parkinson's Disease." Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 93.11 (2012): 2049-054. Web.
**Marusiak, J., E. Zeligowska, J. Mencel, K. Kisiel-Sajewicz, J. Majerczak, J. Zoladz, A. Jaska Lski, and A. Jaska Lska. "Interval Training-induced Alleviation of Rigidity and Hypertonia in Patients with Parkinson's Disease Is Accompanied by Increased Basal Serum Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor." J Rehabil Med Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 47.4 (2015): 372-75. Web.
***Uygur, Mehmet, Maria Bellumori, Kevin Lenoir, Kendall Poole, Ingrid Pretzer-Aboff, and Christopher A. Knight. "Immediate Effects of High-speed Cycling Intervals on Bradykinesia in Parkinson's Disease." Physiotherapy Theory and Practice 31.2 (2014): 77-82. Web.
****Alberts, J.L., Linder, S.M., Penko, A.L., Lowe, M.J. & Phillips, M. It is not about the bike, it is about the pedaling: forced exercise and Parkinson's disease. Exercise and sport sciences reviews 39, 177-186 (2011).
Jeff Broderick, Beneufit, Inc., http://beneufit.com/, +1 415-500-2770, [email protected]
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