Smart Apartment fuels fresh collaboration on aging research

Smart Apartment fuels fresh collaboration on aging research

Written by: David Fanucchi | Updated: October 24, 2025

Faculty and researchers from across the Texas Medical Center visited Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston on Oct. 23 for Live with Robotics as You Age, an event designed to reintroduce the nursing school's Smart Apartment and encourage future research collaborations focused on technology and aging.

"We wanted to remind the Texas Medical Center community that this resource is here for them, a living lab where we can test and refine real solutions that help people live independently for as long as possible," said Carolyn Pickering, PhD, RN, Isla Carroll Turner Chair in Gerontological Nursing and professor at Cizik School of Nursing and a member of the organizing committee for the event.

Highlights of the event

The program included tours of the Smart Apartment and centered on how robotics and artificial intelligence are transforming health care delivery for aging populations.

Speakers and panelists discussed how smart technologies can enhance independence, improve early detection of health changes, and reduce caregiver burden. The day also included an academic panel on practical applications of robotics in health care education and research.

Xiaoqian Jiang, PhD, associate vice president for medical AI, chair of the Department of Health Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, and Christopher Sarofim Family Professor in Biomedical Informatics and Bioengineering at McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston, added that he hopes the event will inspire new interdisciplinary projects across the TMC.

"This event demonstrated the power of collaboration across disciplines," Jiang said. "By bringing together these experts, we're creating opportunities to apply robotics and AI in ways that directly improve the health, safety, and independence of aging adults."

Keynote speaker Michael D. Abramoff, MD, PhD, the Robert C. Watzke, MD, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and founder and executive chairman of Digital Diagnostics, spoke about the life cycle of AI development and how he sees robotics and AI converging in the future to play a role in health care.

Jing Wang, PhD, RN, assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire, gave a featured presentation, "Fostering Ethical Adoption of AI-Enabled Assistive Robots Grounded in Person-Centered Dementia Care."

"I think that it is important to have the Smart Apartment as a resource in Houston, as it is very much on the cutting edge of the current technology," Wang said.

About the Smart Apartment

Located within the Cizik Nursing Research Institute, the Smart Apartment serves as a fully furnished, one-bedroom living laboratory equipped with sensors, monitors, robots, and other technologies. The space allows researchers to study aging-in-place innovations, chronic disease self-management, and early detection of health and behavioral changes among older adults and people living with disabilities.