معرفی
Dr. Ayla Schwarz is a postdoc researcher and lecturer at Wageningen University & Research, affiliated with the Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles department. She holds a PhD in user engagement in serious games from Ghent University (2019) and completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in Applied Communication Sciences at Wageningen University (2011–2016). Her research focuses on leveraging digital health interventions, gamification, and technology to promote behavioral change, particularly targeting youth and healthy lifestyle behaviors. Key projects include Vital@2040 (investigating mobile health for youth physical activity in low-income neighborhoods) and BEweegAPP+ (examining gamification scalability in policy). She is also involved in the Data Science and AI in the Online Food Environment project.
Dr. Schwarz teaches courses on public health, qualitative research methods, and internet-based communication for social change. She coordinates the Protein Transition investment theme (2019–2022) and collaborates with industry, public organizations, and citizens. Her expertise spans health promotion, mHealth, serious gaming, behavioral change, and health education.
Her research outputs emphasize user engagement in digital tools, implementation challenges, and gamification strategies. She has published on topics like exergame design, stakeholder perspectives, and systematic reviews of digital health interventions. Current work explores scalable policy solutions and neighborhood-based health initiatives.
