Issues

The cover image is adapted from Figure 2 in the article, "Embedding Mobile Health Technology into the Nurses' Health Study 3 to Study Behavioral Risk Factors for Cancer," by Fore and colleagues beginning on page 736. Novel technologies (e.g., real-time/wearable technologies, smart questionnaires, text messaging, linkages to environmental data sources and other administrative databases) are enabling new ways to measure nongenetic exposures. Technological innovations are expanding and altering the nature of population recruitment, consenting, and retention through Web/mobile-based applications that are more efficient and less costly than telephone-based and mail-based methods. This study by Fore and colleagues describes a protocol to incorporate mobile health technology into a nationwide prospective cohort to measure high-resolution objective data on environment and behavior. This project could provide translational insights into interventions for urban planning to optimize opportunities for physical activity and healthy sleep patterns to reduce cancer risk. New field tools with real-time measurement of environmental exposures can leverage the use of smartphone apps and Fitbits as in the Nurses' Health Study. This article is included in the CEBP Focus section, "Modernizing Population Science." The collection of articles in this special section of the journal highlights the work of several scientists who are moving population science forward through the integration of novel methodologies. For more information, please see the CEBP Focus section beginning on page 712.