Center Advisors, Emerging Technologies & Data Analytics Core
Tobias Kowatsch, PhD
Tobias Kowatsch, PhD
Associate Professor for Digital Health Interventions, University of Zurich (UZH); Director, School of Medicine, University of St. Gallen (HSG); and Scientific Director, Centre for Digital Health Interventions, UZH, HSG and ETH Zurich
Dr. Tobias “Tobi” Kowatsch is Associate Professor for Digital Health Interventions at the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care, University of Zurich and Director at the School of Medicine, University of St. Gallen. He is also the Scientific Director of the Centre for Digital Health Interventions, a joint initiative of the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care, University of Zurich, the School of Medicine, University of St. Gallen, the Institute of Technology Management, University of St. Gallen, and the Department of Management, Technology and Economics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland.
In close collaboration with his interdisciplinary team and research partners, Tobias designs digital health interventions (“Digital Pills”) at the intersection of information systems research, computer science and behavioral medicine. He helped initiate and participates in the ongoing development of MobileCoach, an open-source platform for ecological momentary assessments, health monitoring and digital health interventions. He is also co-founder of the ETH Zurich and University of St. Gallen spin-off company Pathmate Technologies that creates and delivers digital clinical pathways.
Tobias has a PhD in Management from University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, a Master of Science in Business Information Systems from Saarland University, Germany and a Master of Computer Science in Media from Hochschule Furtwangen University, Germany. He published his research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (JCCP), American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR), Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), JMIR mHealth and uHealth, Journal of Asthma & Allergy, Addictive Behaviors, Information Systems Journal (ISJ), and Computers in Human Behavior (CHB).
Hobbies include hiking and music.
Selected Publications
- Jacobson N, Kowatsch T, Marsch, LA, editors. Digital therapeutics for mental health and addiction: The state of the science and vision for the future. 1st edition. Academic Press; 2022 September 27. Paperback ISBN: 9780323900454. View Source
- Schlieter H, Marsch LA, Whitehouse D, Otto L, Londral AR, Teepe GW, Benedict M, Ollier J, Ulmer T, Gasser N, Ultsch S, Wollschlaeger B, Kowatsch T. Scale-up of digital innovations in health care: Expert commentary on enablers and barriers. J Med Internet Res. 2022 Mar 11;24(3):e24582. doi: 10.2196/24582. PMID: 35275065. View Source
- Nißen MK, Selimi D, Janssen A, Rodríguez Cardona D, Breitner, MH, Kowatsch T. & von Wangenheim F. See you soon again, chatbot? A design taxonomy to characterize user-chatbot relationships with different time horizons. Computers in Human Behavior. 2022 Feb; 127:10704. View Source
- Keller R, Hartmann S, Teepe GW, Lohse KM, Alattas A, Tudor Car L, Müller-Riemenschneider F, von Wangenheim F, Mair JL, Kowatsch T. Digital behavior change interventions for the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes: Systematic market analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2022 Jan 7;24(1):e33348. doi: 10.2196/33348. PMID: 34994693; PMCID: PMC8783286. View Source
- Bérubé C, Kovacs ZF, Fleisch E, Kowatsch T. Reliability of commercial voice assistants' responses to health-related questions in noncommunicable disease management: Factorial experiment assessing response rate and source of information. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Dec 20;23(12):e32161. doi: 10.2196/32161. PMID: 34932003; PMCID: PMC8726026. View Source
- Teepe GW, Da Fonseca A, Kleim B, Jacobson NC, Salamanca Sanabria A, Tudor Car L, Fleisch E, Kowatsch T. Just-in-time adaptive mechanisms of popular mobile apps for individuals with depression: Systematic app search and literature review. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Sep 28;23(9):e29412. doi: 10.2196/29412. PMID: 34309569. View Source
- Lukic Y, Klein S, Brügger V, Keller O, Fleisch E, Kowatsch T. The impact of a gameful breathing training visualization on intrinsic experiential value, perceived effectiveness, and engagement intentions: Between-subject online experiment. JMIR Serious Games. 08/08/2021:22803.
- Stasinaki A, Büchter D, Shih CI, Heldt K, Güsewell S, Brogle B, Farpour-Lambert N, Kowatsch T, l'Allemand D. Effects of a novel mobile health intervention compared to a multi-component behaviour changing program on body mass index, physical capacities and stress parameters in adolescents with obesity: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Pediatr. 2021 Jul 9;21(1):308. doi: 10.1186/s12887-021-02781-2. PMID: 34243738; PMCID: PMC8266630. View Source
- Mishra V, Künzler F, Kramer JN, Fleisch E, Kowatsch T, Kotz D. Detecting receptivity for mHealth interventions in the natural environment. Proc ACM Interact Mob Wearable Ubiquitous Technol. 2021 Jun;5(2):74. doi: 10.1145/3463492. PMID: 34926979; PMCID: PMC8680205. View Source
- Gross C, Schachner T, Hasl A, Kohlbrenner D, Clarenbach CF, Wangenheim FV, Kowatsch T. Personalization of conversational agent-patient interaction styles for chronic disease management: Two consecutive cross-sectional questionnaire studies. J Med Internet Res. 2021 May 26;23(5):e26643. doi: 10.2196/26643. PMID: 33913814; PMCID: PMC8190651. View Source
- Mönninghoff A, Kramer JN, Hess AJ, Ismailova K, Teepe GW, Tudor Car L, Müller-Riemenschneider F, Kowatsch T. Long-term effectiveness of mHealth physical activity interventions: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Apr 30;23(4):e26699. doi: 10.2196/26699. PMID: 33811021; PMCID: PMC8122296. View Source
- Banholzer N, Feuerriegel S, Fleisch E, Bauer GF, Kowatsch T. Computer mouse movements as an indicator of work stress: Longitudinal observational field study. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Apr 2;23(4):e27121. doi: 10.2196/27121. PMID: 33632675; PMCID: PMC8052599. View Source
- Bérubé C, Schachner T, Keller R, Fleisch E, V Wangenheim F, Barata F, Kowatsch T. Voice-based conversational agents for the prevention and management of chronic and mental health conditions: Systematic literature review. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Mar 29;23(3):e25933. doi: 10.2196/25933. PMID: 33658174; PMCID: PMC8042539. View Source
- Stieger M, Flückiger C, Rüegger D, Kowatsch T, Roberts BW, Allemand M. Changing personality traits with the help of a digital personality change intervention. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Feb 23;118(8):e2017548118. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2017548118. PMID: 33558417; PMCID: PMC7923371. View Source
- Stanger C, Kowatsch T, Xie H, Nahum-Shani I, Lim-Liberty F, Anderson M, Santhanam P, Kaden S, Rosenberg B. A digital health intervention (SweetGoals) for young adults with type 1 diabetes: Protocol for a factorial randomized trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2021 Feb 23;10(2):e27109. doi: 10.2196/27109. PMID: 33620330. View Source
- Kowatsch T, Lohse KM, Erb V, Schittenhelm L, Galliker H, Lehner R, Huang EM. Hybrid ubiquitous coaching with a novel combination of mobile and holographic conversational agents targeting adherence to home exercises: Four design and evaluation studies. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Feb 22;23(2):e23612. doi: 10.2196/23612. PMID: 33461957; PMCID: PMC7939948. View Source
- Kowatsch T, Schachner T, Harperink S, Barata F, Dittler U, Xiao G, Stanger C, V Wangenheim F, Fleisch E, Oswald H, Möller A. Conversational Agents as mediating social actors in chronic disease management involving health care professionals, patients, and family members: Multisite single-arm feasibility study. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Feb 17;23(2):e25060. doi: 10.2196/25060. PMID: 33484114; PMCID: PMC7929753. View Source
- Lukic YX, Shih CI, Hernandez Reguera A, Cotti A, Fleisch E, Kowatsch T. Physiological responses and user feedback on a gameful breathing training app: Within-subject experiment. JMIR Serious Games. 2021 Feb 8;9(1):e22802. doi: 10.2196/22802. PMID: 33555264; PMCID: PMC7899808. View Source
- Schachner T, Gross C, Hasl A, V Wangenheim F, Kowatsch T. Deliberative and paternalistic interaction styles for conversational agents in digital health: Procedure and validation through a web-based experiment. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Jan 29;23(1):e22919. doi: 10.2196/22919. PMID: 33512328; PMCID: PMC7880814. View Source
- Tinschert P, Rassouli F, Barata F, Steurer-Stey C, Fleisch E, Puhan MA, Kowatsch T, Brutsche MH. Nocturnal cough and sleep quality to assess asthma control and predict attacks. J Asthma Allergy. 2020 Dec 14;13:669-678. doi: 10.2147/JAA.S278155. PMID: 33363391; PMCID: PMC7754262. View Source
- Rassouli F, Tinschert P, Barata F, Steurer-Stey C, Fleisch E, Puhan MA, Baty F, Kowatsch T, Brutsche MH. Characteristics of asthma-related nocturnal cough: A potential new digital biomarker. J Asthma Allergy. 2020 Dec 3;13:649-657. doi: 10.2147/JAA.S278119. PMID: 33299332; PMCID: PMC7721277. View Source
- Rüegger D, Stieger M, Nißen MK, Allemand M, Fleisch E, Kowatsch T. How are personality states associated with smartphone data? European Journal of Personality 34(5) Special Issue: Behavioral personality science in the age of big data, 687-713 10.1002/per.2309. View Source
- Tudor Car L, Dhinagaran DA, Kyaw BM, Kowatsch T, Joty S, Theng YL, Atun R. Conversational agents in health care: Scoping review and conceptual analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2020 Aug 7;22(8):e17158. doi: 10.2196/17158. PMID: 32763886; PMCID: PMC7442948. View Source
- Barata F, Tinschert P, Rassouli F, Steurer-Stey C, Fleisch E, Puhan MA, Brutsche M, Kotz D, Kowatsch T. Automatic recognition, segmentation, and sex assignment of nocturnal asthmatic coughs and cough epochs in smartphone audio recordings: Observational field study. J Med Internet Res. 2020 Jul 14;22(7):e18082. doi: 10.2196/18082. PMID: 32459641; PMCID: PMC7388043. View Source
- Haug S, Paz Castro R, Scholz U, Kowatsch T, Schaub MP, Radtke T. Assessment of the efficacy of a mobile phone-delivered just-in-time planning intervention to reduce alcohol use in adolescents: Randomized controlled crossover trial. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 May 26;8(5):e16937. doi: 10.2196/16937. PMID: 32452818; PMCID: PMC7284414. View Source
- Hauser-Ulrich S, Künzli H, Meier-Peterhans D, Kowatsch T. A smartphone-based health care chatbot to promote Self-Management of Chronic Pain (SELMA): Pilot randomized controlled trial. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Apr 3;8(4):e15806. doi: 10.2196/15806. PMID: 32242820; PMCID: PMC7165314. View Source
- Kramer JN, Künzler F, Mishra V, Smith SN, Kotz D, Scholz U, Fleisch E, Kowatsch T. Which components of a smartphone walking app help users to reach personalized step goals? Results from an optimization trial. Ann Behav Med. 2020 Jun 12;54(7):518-528. doi: 10.1093/abm/kaaa002. PMID: 32182353; PMCID: PMC7291330. View Source
- Shih I, Tomita N, Lukic Y, Hernández Á, Fleisch E, Kowatsch T. Breeze: Smartphone-based acoustic real-time detection of breathing phases for a gamified biofeedback breathing training. Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT). 2019 Dec 11; 3(4): Paper 152 10.1145/3369835. View Source
- Künzler F, Mishra V, Kramer JK, Kotz D, Fleisch E, Kowatsch T. Exploring the state-of-receptivity for mHealth interventions. Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT) (Ubicomp), 3(4)#140, December 2019. doi:10.1145/3369805. View Source
- Kowatsch T, Otto L, Harperink S, Cotti A, Schlieter H. A design and evaluation framework for digital health Interventions. it – Information Technology. 2019 Nov 20; 61(5-6): 253-263. View Source
- Kramer JN, Tinschert P, Scholz U, Fleisch E, Kowatsch T. A cluster-randomized trial on small incentives to promote physical activity. Am J Prev Med. 2019 Feb;56(2):e45-e54. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.09.018. PMID: 30553693. View Source
- Tinschert P, Rassouli F, Barata F, Steurer-Stey C, Fleisch E, Puhan MA, Brutsche M, Kowatsch T. Prevalence of nocturnal cough in asthma and its potential as a marker for asthma control (MAC) in combination with sleep quality: Protocol of a smartphone-based, multicentre, longitudinal observational study with two stages. BMJ Open. 2019 Jan 7;9(1):e026323. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026323. PMID: 30617104; PMCID: PMC6326321. View Source
- Presset B, Kramer J, Kowatsch T, Ohl F. The social meaning of steps: User reception of a mobile health intervention on physical activity. Critical Public Health. 2018 Oct 22. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2020.1725445. View Source
- Stieger M, Nißen M, Rüegger D, Kowatsch T, Flückiger C, Allemand M. PEACH, a smartphone- and conversational agent-based coaching intervention for intentional personality change: study protocol of a randomized, wait-list controlled trial. BMC Psychol. 2018 Sep 4;6(1):43. doi: 10.1186/s40359-018-0257-9. PMID: 30180880; PMCID: PMC6123904. View Source
- Paz Castro R, Haug S, Kowatsch T, Filler A, Schaub MP. Moderators of outcome in a technology-based intervention to prevent and reduce problem drinking among adolescents. Addict Behav. 2017 Sep;72:64-71. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.03.013. PMID: 28371696. View Source
- Kramer JN, Kowatsch T. Using feedback to promote physical activity: The role of the feedback sign. J Med Internet Res. 2017 Jun 2;19(6):e192. doi: 10.2196/jmir.7012. PMID: 28576757; PMCID: PMC5473947. View Source
- Wahle F, Bollhalder L, Kowatsch T, Fleisch E. Toward the design of evidence-based mental health information systems for people with depression: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2017 May 31;19(5):e191. doi: 10.2196/jmir.7381. PMID: 28566267; PMCID: PMC5471345. View Source
- Haug S, Paz Castro R, Kowatsch T, Filler A, Dey M, Schaub MP. Efficacy of a web- and text messaging-based intervention to reduce problem drinking in adolescents: Results of a cluster-randomized controlled trial. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2017 Feb;85(2):147-159. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000138. PMID: 27606700. View Source
- Kowatsch T, Volland D, Shih I, Rüegger D, Künzler F, Barata F, Filler A, Büchter D, Brogle B, Heldt K, Gindrat P, Farpour-Lambert N, l’Allemand D. Design and evaluation of a mobile chat app for the open source behavioral health intervention platform MobileCoach. 12th International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology (DESRIST 2017), Karlsruhe, Germany. View Source
- Tinschert P, Barata F, Kowatsch T. Enhancing asthma control through it: Design, implementation and planned evaluation of the mobile asthma companion. In Leimeister JM, Brenner W. (Hrsg.): Proceedings der 13th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2017), St. Gallen, 1291-1294. View Source
- Wahle F, Kowatsch T, Fleisch E, Rufer M, Weidt S. Mobile sensing and support for people with depression: A pilot trial in the wild. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2016 Sep 21;4(3):e111. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.5960. PMID: 27655245; PMCID: PMC5052463. View Source
- Haug S, Castro RP, Kwon M, Filler A, Kowatsch T, Schaub MP. Smartphone use and smartphone addiction among young people in Switzerland. J Behav Addict. 2015 Dec;4(4):299-307. doi: 10.1556/2006.4.2015.037. PMID: 26690625; PMCID: PMC4712764. View Source
- Kehr F, Kowatsch T, Wentzel D, Fleisch E. Blissfully ignorant: The effects of general privacy concerns, general institutional trust, and affect in the privacy calculus. Information Systems Journal. 2015 Oct 9; 25(6): 607-635. View Source
- Filler A, Kowatsch T, Haug S, Wahle F, Staake T, Fleisch E. MobileCoach: A novel open source platform for the design of evidence-based, scalable and low-cost behavioral health interventions. 14th Annual Wireless Telecommunications Symposium (WTS 2015), USA, New York. View Source
- Wahle F, Kowatsch T. Towards the design of evidence-based mental health information systems: A preliminary literature review. 35th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), 2014. Auckland, New Zealand. View Source
- Kowatsch T, Maass W, Pletikosa Cvijikj I, Xu R, Büchter D, Brogle B, Dintheer A, Wiegand D, Durrer D, Schutz Y, l’Allemand D. Design of a health information system enhancing the performance of obesity expert and children teams. 22nd European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), 2014. Tel Aviv, Israel. View Source