Apurv Soni, MD, PhD

Department of Medicine physician-scientist is using mobile technology, predictive analytics, and implementation science to improve patient health outcomes and reduce disparities in health care. 

Apurv Soni, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Health Systems Science, Clinical Informatics Section and a director in the Program in Digital Medicine, studies home-based learning health systems designed for the rapid innovation of health care in decentralized settings. His research focuses on risk prediction, stratification models, implementation science, and health equity in digital site-less and pragmatic clinical trials.  

Since joining the faculty at UMass Chan in 2021, Dr. Soni has built a robust research program focused on advancing the science of decentralized clinical studies and a learning health systems approach to decentralized clinical care. An important aspect of Dr. Soni’s work is establishing, validating, and evaluating digital technologies in real-world settings. His research has ranged from analyzing the efficacy of COVID-19 at-home testing to deploying, validating, and evaluating digital and mobile health care technologies and strategies for patients with various acute or chronic conditions. 

Dr. Soni has led project teams for five studies funded as part of the NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Tech Clinical Studies Core Supplement Award—all of which focused on the efficacy of COVID-19 rapid antigen and PCR tests. Results from this work led to joint publications with the FDA and informed nationwide policies and best practices for testing disseminated by the CDC and FDA. Dr. Soni is also a principal investigator for the Home Test to Treat Program, a virtual care program that offers free COVID-19 and influenza A and B health services including at-home rapid test kits, telehealth sessions, and at-home treatments to eligible individuals. The program is funded by the NIH and, to date, has enrolled over 80,000 participants from across the United States.  

Beyond his team’s work with COVID-19-related programs and testing, Dr. Soni is currently the principal investigator on the study, “Safety, Acceptance, Feasibility, and Effectiveness of Rehab at Home (SAFER At Home),” funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In collaboration with colleagues from the Divisions of Hospital Medicine and Geriatric Medicine including Wendy Mitchell, MD, Jerry Gurwitz, MD, and Sarah McGee, MD, Dr. Soni is leading the largest ever randomized controlled trial to evaluate decentralized post-acute care for in-home skilled nursing and rehab care. This work builds on Dr. Soni’s experience in developing technology infrastructure for UMass’ award-winning Hospital at Home program and aims to produce necessary data that can influence policy change for post-acute care at home reimbursement.  

Dr. Soni has also been an integral member of teams that have developed infrastructure and analytical strategies for using the electronic medical record (EMR) and mobile technology data from UMass Memorial Health patients to inform risk stratification, clinical decision support, and clinical care pathways. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, he led efforts to use EMR-based analytics to risk-stratify patients, which enabled the safe triage of over 2,500 patients during surges.  

Dr. Soni is currently collaborating on innovative pilot studies that incorporate novel signal processing algorithms using data from wearable devices and embedded sensors in a toilet seat. For example, in the COMMODE-seat (Correlating Outcomes with Mobile Monitoring using Digital sEnsors in a seat) study, co-led by Dr. Soni and Dr. Laurel O’Connor, participants with multiple chronic conditions receive a “Heart Seat” and data is passively collected helping investigators identify patterns associated with changes in their health. Additionally, along with Drs. Nisha Fahey and Tiffany Moore-Simas, he is part of a team that facilitates home-based breastfeeding support through virtual lactation consultation “telelactation” and evaluates its impact on maternal mental health.  

Dr. Soni earned his medical degree and a PhD in Clinical and Population Health with a concentration in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Translational Science at UMass Chan Medical School. 

We are thankful for Dr. Soni’s contributions and collaborations that have been instrumental in the growth of digital medicine initiatives in the Department of Medicine, UMass Chan, UMMH, and beyond!  

Learn more about Dr. Soni’s work.  

Related:  

The Conversation: COVID-19 rapid tests still work against new variants – researchers keep ‘testing the tests,’ and they pass

WCVB 5 Chronicle: 'Smart' toilet seat monitors health data to proactively help patients in medical distress

Apurv Soni, Neil Marya, and Honghuang Lin Present at 2024 UMass Chan Media Fellowship

UMass Chan partners with expanded federal Home Test to Treat program for COVID-19, flu 

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