Placement: Stanford University
Co-Mentors: Nirav Shah, MD, MPH, Senior Scholar, Clinical Excellence Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine
Brian Anderson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Coalition for Health AI (CHAI)
Project: Can Digital Health Help Resuscitate Our Health System? Empowering Effective Digital Health Interventions with Behavioral Science
Reza Jarral, MBBS, MTF, MRCS (ENT), MRCGP, FFMLM, FBCS, FRNZCGP, is a 2025–26 New Zealand Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice. He is a practicing primary care physician, chief medical officer at CareHQ, and clinical director for health equity at New Zealand’s largest primary health organization, ProCare. He completed his medical training at Imperial College London and holds a master’s degree in technological futures. Jarral is an affiliated scholar at the Stanford Center for Digital Health, lectures on the future of health care at Tech Futures Lab, and works with several multilateral groups on the incubation of deep health technology.
Jarral is passionate about bridging gaps in care and enhancing access for underserved groups. He is a volunteer telemedical physician for the Addis Clinic, a global nonprofit on a mission to bring lifesaving health care to underserved communities in East Africa. His commitment to leveraging technology for positive human impact has earned recognition from the Rockefeller Foundation, Imperial College London, and the Edmund Hillary Fellowship.
Project Overview: Noncommunicable diseases are the leading cause of death in both the United States and New Zealand, placing immense strain on already overstretched health systems. Jarral’s project will explore how digital health tools, particularly those informed by behavioral science, can promote healthier behaviors, reduce health care costs, and address health inequities. With rising investment in digital health, the project will assess which interventions are most effective, scalable, and equitable in supporting prevention and self-management of noncommunicable diseases. Using a mixed-methods approach, including stakeholder interviews, case studies, and comparative analysis, the research will identify digital behavioral technologies that demonstrate sustained engagement and positive health outcomes. The project will draw on the U.S. and New Zealand contexts to examine public–private innovation models, return on investment, and strategies to ensure digital tools meet the needs of underserved populations. Findings will support policy, product development, and equitable implementation of digital behavioral health solutions.