Lizbeth (Libby) Benson, PhD

Dr. Lizbeth 'Libby' Benson is a Research Assistant Professor in the Data Science for Dynamic Intervention Decision-Making Center in the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. Her research centers on the role of self-regulation processes in mental and physical health, with a focus on intensive longitudinal methods for capturing the temporal dynamics of affective, social, and behavioral experiences in daily life using ecological momentary assessment and wearable sensors. The overarching goal is to understand how behavioral processes unfold across multiple timescales and contexts to inform the design and refinement of scalable interventions that meet the unique needs of individual people. Libby is particularly interested in methods for personalizing mobile health (mHealth) interventions, including micro-randomized trials (MRTs) to optimize just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs), and personalized feedback (text and data visualizations) to enhance engagement. Her work spans domains of smoking cessation, physical activity promotion, and emotion regulation during the transition to parenthood.