About

BRIGHT is a multi-disciplinary, cross-University Institute dedicated to advancing theory, research, and practice in digital media. Our specific focus is on the use of digital media for behavior change in public health and other social change programs.

Our Mission

The BRIGHT Institute supports research on digital health technologies and their application to public health, promoting healthy behaviors, and preventing disease. Digital health technologies include all digital media and devices, such as the internet, mobile phones, social media, apps, SMS. The BRIGHT Institute supports faculty conducting research on the use of these technologies as platforms for interventions, to conduct surveillance (infodemiology), and to evaluate the effectiveness of new digital media as they emerge.

Our Rationale

Why is now the right time for the BRIGHT Institute?

Digital media are omnipresent in modern life, but the science of how digital media impact behavior is still in its infancy. For example, globally, approximately 45% of the world’s population or 3.5 billion people use social media and the average user overall spends approximately 3 hours of their day on social media. These statistics make it critical to understand both how technologies such as social media influence health decision making and behavior, and to design and evaluate effective behavior change interventions using social and other digital media platforms. GW has an opportunity to fill an important space in digital health research, especially as it relates to methods and evaluating digital intervention effectiveness in public health.