Schenita Randolph, assistant professor, was recently featured in an article entitled "Get Help Creating A Mobile App" published by Working@Duke.

Randolph would like to say a special thank you to Ragan Johnson, assistant professor; Ryan Shaw, associate professor; Devon Noonan, associate professor; Lemercie Saint Hilaire, medical instructor of community and family medicine; and Devon Washington, community advisory board member; for their collaboration and commitment to the development of the app.

Randolph has devoted her academic career to decreasing HIV infections among black males. 

While Randolph’s research originally focused on outreach in barber shops, she realized the conversation about health risks in the barbershop setting was evolving and many customers were on their smartphones. 

“People are looking at their phones while waiting for appointments, and although conversations are happening, the phone is in everyone’s hand,” Randolph said. “It made me realize there was this culture shift. I needed to infuse technology into my project.”

Randolph decided on a mobile app. She received a $50,000 grant in 2018 to develop an app on health communication and healthy sexual behaviors for black adolescents and their fathers.

Staff with the Mobile App Gateway helped Randolph secure a developer, Onyx Ocean Technologies, and worked with the Office of Research Contracts to form an agreement. The app is currently in development, and Randolph is finalizing a name for the product. 

“It was important we had a diverse group of developers because I wanted people that could connect with the community the app is for,” Randolph said. “It was helpful to have the Mobile App Gateway partner with me to secure an expert in mobile app development. It gave me time to focus on the content of the app.” 

Read the full article here.