Jared Duval is an Assistant professor in the Northern Arizona University's Department of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, where he directs the Playful Health Technology Lab. He has a Research through Design practice at the intersection of Human Computer Interaction, Games/Play, and Minority Health. He is the author of more than 20 peer-reviewed publications and is the creator of 3 Serious Games for Health.

Jared received his Ph.D. from the University of California Santa Cruz, where he was a part of the ASSIST Lab and SET Lab. His work has received a Best Paper Honorable Mention at ACM CHI, he is the recipient of multiple National Instituite of Health Pilot Grants, an NIH LRP award, the Jack Baskin and Peggy Downes-Baskin Fellowship, a Smile Train Research Grant, an IdeaHub Judges Award, a Blackstone LaunchPad Fellowship, and a two-time recipient of CITIRS Tech for Social Good Award. Jared has been invited to keynote at the Kraw Lecture Series, is an ARCS Scholar, Vice President of the Games for Health Early Career Committee, and editor of the SIGACCESS newsletter on Assistive Technology. 

Personal page: http://jareduval.com / Email: Jared.Duval@nau.edu

Tochukwu Ikwunne is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University, where he works under the direction of Jared Duval, who runs the Playful Health Technology Lab. His research interests focus on how mobile technologies mediate wellness, health, and human behavior, as well as how digital interventions's design processes can be designed to improve user engagement. He has published more than 15 peer-reviewed articles to his credit.

Tochukwu holds a Ph.D. in Human Computer Interaction from Trinity College Dublin, where he was also a researcher at the ADAPT Lab. He received the ADAPT Recognition Early Stage Researcher Award in 2022 for his groundbreaking research on cultured-centered user engagement design for mobile health in the Global South.

Email: Tochukwu.Ikwunne@nau.edu

My name is Pavan Prasad, and I’m currently pursuing my PhD in Computer Science at Northern Arizona University (NAU). I also have a Master’s degree in Computer Science from NAU, where I had the opportunity to work as a teaching assistant under the guidance of Professor Jared Duval. I’m grateful to still be working closely with him as a developer at the Playful Health Technology Lab. Our work focuses on the connection between digital technologies and human well-being, and I’ve learned a lot from Professor Duval’s research on using digital tools to boost user engagement and health outcomes.

Before coming to the U.S., I completed another Master’s degree in Information Technology from Alliance University in Bangalore, India. I also worked for over three years as a Software Developer at Vaishnavi Information Technology, where I gained hands-on experience with real-world projects and deepened my technical skills.

I’m very passionate about using my knowledge to make a positive difference, especially through research and projects that have the potential to benefit society. Whether it’s building health-focused technology or supporting students, I believe in combining hard work, curiosity, and purpose in everything I do.

Email: ppg8@nau.edu

Shelby Hagemann is a third-year PhD student at Northern Arizona University, studying Informatics and Computing (Computer Science emphasis), where she is co-advised by Dr. Jared Duval (NAU) and Dr. Morgan Vigil-Hayes (Michigan State University). In 2023, she received a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from NAU.

Shelby's research interests are in Human-Computer Interactions (HCI), community-centered design, and Machine Learning (ML). Particularly, she is interested in researching how HCI practices can influence the development and design of ML-based tools, such as Language Models, to support community needs and interests.

Email: seh428@nau.edu

Nazmul Hossain is a PhD (Informatics and Computing) candidate at Northern Arizona University, with an emphasis on Cyber and Software Systems, where he is co-advised by Dr. Jared Duval (NAU) and Dr. Morgan Vigil-Hayes (Michigan State University). 

Nazmul's research interests are in Human-centered Networking, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and developing software tools to help users affected by intermittent broadband connectivity. Particularly, Nazmul is interested in researching how user-centric software tools can be developed and used for tackling the challenges of the digitial divide. 

Email: mh2752@nau.edu

Chaithanya Heblikar is a Graduate student in the School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University, where she works under the direction of Jared Duval as part of the Playful Health Technology Lab. Her research interests focus on Interactive design, mobile application development and computer vision.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from JSS Academy of Technical Education, India, where she graduated as the Top performer of her class. She received the Student Project Programme grant by the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST) for her research in Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) System and Real‐time helmet detection of motorcyclists in urban traffic.

Personal Page: https://csheblikar.me | Email: csh342@nau.edu

Varna Gobbur is a research assistant at the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University, where she works under the direction of Jared Duval as part of the Playful Health Technology Lab. Her research interests focus on data collection and healthcare applications. Her projects are integrating Unity and Firebase to collect and analyze data, and designing Qualtrics surveys for healthcare research initiatives.

She holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Northern Arizona University. After her graduation, she worked as an Engineering Intern, where she utilized SQL to query and extract relevant data, conducted statistical analyses using R and Excel, and developed dashboards in Excel.

Email: vg574@nau.edu

Hunter Beach is an Undergraduate Student in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University, where he works as an intern under the direction of Jared Duval. He is a member of the Playful Health Technology Lab through independent research on how video game-based interventions can be designed for physical/occupational therapy. His research interests focuses on serious games for health, particularly for speech therapy and physical/occupational therapy. and all steps of the co-design/co-creation process.

Hunter is currently studies Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Game Design, and Data Science at NAU, and intends to go into his masters in 2026. He has participated in several different hackathons for each of his studies. He has worked and volunteered in several labs on campus, including the CANIS lab and the RESHAPE lab. He has also interned twice at the Rome AFRL, learning important software engineering paradigms and GitHub management skills.

Email: Hunter.Beach@nau.edu

Alison Graham is an Undergraduate Student in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Northern Arizona University. She works as an intern under the direction of Jared Duval in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems. She is a member of the Playful Health Technology Lab where she contributes to projects involving technology, wellness, and health equity. Her research interests focus on data analytics, graphic design, and statistical inferencing. 

Alison is currently attending Northern Arizona University for a bachelor's in University Studies as well as minors in Statistics, Business, and Mathematics and a cerfiticate in Marketing. Alison is also an active member of the Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women and the chapter president of the Order of Omega: Leadership Honor Society at NAU.

Email: akg352@nau.edu

Devin Jay San Nicolas is an Undergraduate Student in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Northern Arizona University. He is a member of the Playful Health Technology Lab where he contributes to projects involving technology, wellness, and health equity. His research interests focus on technology in healthcare. 

Devin Jay is currently attending Northern Arizona University for a bachelor's in Computer Science.

Email: dds324@nau.edu

Carly Miller is an Undergraduate Student in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Northern Arizona University. She is a member of the Playful Health Technology Lab, contributing to a project examining how video game-based interventions can be utilized in pediatric physical and occupational therapy. Her research interests focus on health psychology and interdisciplinary approaches to the promotion of wellbeing. 

Carly Miller is currently attending Northern Arizona University for a bachelor’s in Psychological Sciences, complemented by a minor in Anthropology. Carly is also an undergraduate research assistant for the SWIFT lab at NAU. 

Email: crm764@nau.edu

Olivia Vester is an Undergraduate Student in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University. She is a member of the Playful Health Technology Lab as an assistant programmer for the NetGauge Games project. Her research focuses on broadband network data collection.

Olivia Vester is currently attending Northern Arizona University for a bachelor’s in Computer Science. 

Email: orv9@nau.edu

Cathy Ly is an Undergraduate Student in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University, where she works as an intern under the direction of Jared Duval.  Cathy is actively involved with PHT Lab where she contributes to projects involving technology, education, and healthcare.

She has previously attended Northern Arizona University for a Bachelors in Computer Science to fuel her passion for using technology to improve healthcare and education. Cathy's commitment to hands-on learning and collaboration has driven her to be apart of various research projects and is currently on a multidisciplinary team of mechanical and electrical engineers to develop medical technology solutions.

Email: cl2493@nau.edu