Georgia CTSA AppHatchery Co-Director Receives NIH R50 Research Software Engineer Award

Photo of Santiago Arconada Alvarez

Clinicians and biomedical researchers often encounter challenges when translating their ideas into real-world applications and tools that can improve research and patient care. Santiago Arconada Alvarez, MS, Emory, aims to bridge this gap through NIH funding he received from the R50 Research Software Engineer (RSE) Award.

When asked why he applied for the grant, Arconada Alvarez shared, “I spent a decade in science, academia, then industry, then back to academia — and the question that got me hooked originally was, 'Why are there so few scientific discoveries published in academic journals that actually made it into our daily lives?' The R50 is the first funding I've seen that recognizes the people who build that software inside academia as researchers in their own right. When the opportunity came up, applying felt like the first time the mechanism matched the work and vision I had for science.” 

Driving Innovation through NIH Support  

This funding will support Arconada Alvarez’s project, “A Foot in Each World: Bridging the Divide Between Clinical Research and the Mobile Apps That Support It.” The newly offered NIH award for Research Software Engineers was created to provide opportunities for more voices in translational science, independent of being tied to a project or investigator.

This three-year award will provide dedicated time for Arconada Alvarez to expand his software development expertise, deepen his understanding of clinical research, and explore how those skills intersect to create innovative technologies. He will lead a multidisciplinary team focused on developing digital solutions to support the diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions. 

Expanding the AppHatchery’s Capabilities  

Arconada Alvarez serves as the Associate Director of the AppHatchery within the Georgia CTSA. Launched in 2020, this initiative develops patient-centered mobile health applications. Under his leadership, 11 digital health solutions are now publicly available in domain areas, including cardiovascular disease awareness for teens (HerHeart), diabetes management for children diagnosed with Type 1 (TypeU), language access at the bedside for non-English speaking patients (Vocalis), and speech biomarker research and data collection for clinical trials (Fabla). 

Building on the success of the AppHatchery, he hopes that this funding will create new pathways and ultimately a broader impact. When asked about his vision and future plans, he explains, "I want to explore how to improve the participation experience as a conduit to do better and more effective research. Many studies rely on long questionnaires that place a burden on the people taking them. What if instead we could create a research experience that's genuinely engaging, maybe even delightful to take part in? I think we can pull this off with software."

This opportunity would not be possible without funding from the NIH and institutional support by Emory University, including Sandra Wong, MD, MS, Dean, Emory School of Medicine, and Wilbur Lam, MD, PhD, Georgia CTSA AppHatchery Program Director and Associate Dean of Innovation, Emory School of Medicine.


Learn more about the Georgia CTSA AppHatchery.