# Personalized Approach To Habits-Sleep (PATH-S), an app to improve sleep for Black teens (ages 14-17) with asthma

> **NIH NIH R43** · KDH RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATION, INC. · 2024 · $534,119

## Abstract

KDH Research & Communication (KDHRC) proposes to develop and evaluate an app, Personalized 
Approach To Habits – Sleep [PATH-S], that will use casual gaming and intermittent reinforcement to 
encourage Black teens (ages 14-17) with asthma to adopt and persist with personalized habits to improve sleep 
duration.
Although sleep is fundamental for human productivity and health, only one quarter of teens in the U.S. 
report obtaining recommended amounts of sleep. Sleep problems are magnified among teens with asthma, who 
are more likely to experience sleep disturbances like trouble falling asleep, wheezing during sleep, frequent 
nighttime wakening, and daytime sleepiness. Asthma symptoms impact sleep, and poor sleep, in turn, worsens 
asthma symptoms.
The data on overlapping health disparities for Black teens in regard to sleep and to asthma are stark. Because 
being Black heightens the independent likelihood of both poor sleep and having asthma, it is unsurprising that 
Black teens with asthma experience worse sleep outcomes than White teens with asthma, and their sleep 
problems are likely to persist into adulthood.
In this Phase I proposal, KDHRC will develop and evaluate the PATH-S minimally viable prototype (MVP), 
an app that specifically addresses this health disparity and supports Black teens with asthma to build and 
persist with habits that will build sleep duration, focus, and attention, and decrease asthma symptoms in turn. 
KDHRC will develop and evaluate PATH-S with technical vendor Thrust Interactive, on Thrust’s existing and 
research-validated Treks platform. PATH-S will increase user engagement by providing health-related content 
in the form of a game that breaks behaviors down into simple, daily, evidence-based tasks that the app refers to 
as “micro-habits.” Users can 1) learn healthy sleep habits and create a personalized path to better sleep; 2) 
review progress and make plan adjustments; and 3) report their own asthma symptoms and the extent to 
which their symptoms impacted them. PATH-S will create competition against other users via a leaderboard
and provide game-like reinforcement for achievements. PATH-S will sync to a FitBit to allow users to track 
sleep metrics.
In this Phase I project, KDHRC will receive input from an expert advisory committee, develop the PATH-S 
MVP, conduct user testing of the PATH-S MVP, finalize the PATH-S MVP, and conduct a feasibility study of 
the PATH-S MVP. To commercialize PATH-S, KDHRC will sell to third party payors, expand PATH-S to 
support more audiences at risk for sleep problems, and begin direct-to-consumer marketing.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10921377
- **Project number:** 1R43HL174208-01
- **Recipient organization:** KDH RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATION, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Eric Charles Twombly
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $534,119
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-07-10 → 2025-10-09

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10921377

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10921377, Personalized Approach To Habits-Sleep (PATH-S), an app to improve sleep for Black teens (ages 14-17) with asthma (1R43HL174208-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10921377. Licensed CC0.

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