Sean D. Young

Sean D. Young is a Professor at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), holding joint appointments in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Informatics. He serves as the Executive Director of the UCI Institute for Prediction Technology and the Center for Digital Behavior. His roles also include advising startups and corporations, presenting at global forums, and contributing to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).

• Education: PhD in Psychology and MS in Health Services Research from Stanford University.
• Work Experience: NASA Ames Research Center, Cisco Systems, Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Research focuses on digital behavior and prediction technology, studying how people use social media, mobile apps, and wearables to predict and influence future behavior in health, medicine, politics, and business. His work extends to financial markets via models predicting human behavior for automated trading strategies.

Publications include the international bestseller Stick With It. He hosts a podcast (Sean Young, PhD) and blog (BlackBoxPhd.com), creating educational content on behavior science and health innovation.

• Teaching: Courses at UCI on Medicine, Technology, and Psychology, including Hacking Health.
• Advisory Roles: NASEM board member and committee member on STI prevention; corporate and organizational consultations.

Labs/Teams: Directs the UCI Institute for Prediction Technology and Center for Digital Behavior, advancing interdisciplinary research in digital behavior science.