W. Benjamin Nowell, PhD, MSW

About Ben

W. Benjamin Nowell, Ph.D., M.S.W., is Director, Patient-Centered Research, at the Global Healthy Living Foundation and CreakyJoints®. As Principal Investigator of the ArthritisPower™ registry, he co-leads the patient-powered research network with Shilpa Venkatachalam, PhD, and Jeffrey Curtis, MD, MS, MPH (University of Alabama at Birmingham). Ben oversees all research activities conducted by the organization, including studies conducted with academic and industry partners. His research interests include examination of the factors that facilitate patient engagement and adherence to providing digital health measures, use of wearable devices in the measurement of disease activity, and patient-reported outcomes and shared decision making in rheumatologic conditions. He is responsible for more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and regularly presents his research at medical conferences in the US and abroad.. Prior to joining GHLF, Ben worked as a medical social worker and Community and Long-Term Care Coordinator for the Ottawa Regional Stroke Centre and as Research Coordinator for an evaluation of participant outcomes in the Arthritis Foundation chronic disease self-management programs for arthritis. He received his PhD from Columbia University School of Social Work, his MSW from the University of California at Berkeley School of Social Welfare, and his undergraduate degree from Gonzaga University.