Leveraging estimates of circadian disruption to support mental health and well-being (C03)

• Subject Area: Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 541063275

Chronobiologist Luisa Pilz and biostatistician Inke König aim to improve circadian health through a digital solution that provides chronobiologically based and personalized recommendations in everyday life, to make circadian medicine more accessible in places where health care is less developed. They will use actigraphy, light sensors and an app to characterize the relationship between circadian disruption and mental health. They will then conduct a randomized study using actimetry, sensor data, and self-reported well-being data to provide personalized recommendations for daily behavior and light exposure and evaluate the effects on mental health. Finally, they will investigate how the light exposure and activity measurement capabilities of smartphones can be used to provide preventive circadian health recommendations to broad populations.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 418: Foundations of Circadian Medicine
• Applicant Institution: shared FU Berlin and HU Berlin through:; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Inke Regina Koenig; Professorin Dr. Luisa K. Pilz