Lirio Strengthens Behavioral Reinforcement Learning Lab with Top Talent

NASHVILLE and KNOXVILLE, Tenn., – Lirio, a behavior change AI company helping health systems and large employers move patients and employees towards better health outcomes, has added Justin Beaver, PhD, Raju Vatsavai, PhD, Clayton Webster, PhD, and Suzanne Blazek, PhD to its Behavioral Reinforcement and Learning Lab (BReLL).

“From helping health systems effectively re-engage patients to working with companies to move employees towards better health, we empower people to take action,” says Marten den Haring, Lirio’s COO. “The individuals joining BReLL today are some of the top minds in the fields of behavioral science and artificial intelligence. Their ideas and research will be pivotal in refining and furthering Lirio’s hyper-personalized behavior change AI programs.”

BReLL is jointly led by Christopher Symons, PhD, Chief Artificial Intelligence Scientist for Lirio, and Chandra Y. Osborn, PhD, MPH Lirio’s Chief Behavioral Officer. They direct a cross functional group of highly experienced research fellows and scientific advisors to create industry leading solutions in behavior change AI. The new distinguished research fellows are:

Justin Beaver, PhD, joins Lirio from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he was a senior researcher and led the lab’s Cybersecurity Research Group. His primary focus during his 12 years at ORNL was on the application of analytics and machine learning in real-world cybersecurity systems. Prior to joining ORNL, Beaver worked at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for 12 years doing development work for the Space Shuttle program. He holds a PhD in computer engineering from the University of Central Florida.

Raju Vatsavai, PhD, joins Lirio from the faculty of North Carolina State University, where he was an Associate Professor of Geospatial Analytics in the computer science department, and was Associate Director of the Center for Geospatial Analytics. He has also worked at several of the world’s leading research labs, including CDAC-India, AT&T Labs, and IBM Research. Vatsavai has over 25 years of research and development experience in spatiotemporal data analysis and machine learning and holds a PhD in computer science from the University of Minnesota.

Clayton Webster, PhD, joins Lirio from a joint position as a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mathematics at The University of Tennessee and a Distinguished Scientist and Group Leader in the Computational and Applied Mathematics Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He earned his PhD in Mathematics from Florida State University. His work has earned him numerous accolades, including the Department of Energy Office of Science’s Early Career Award, the Simons Fellowship in Mathematics, and the John von Neumann Fellowship at Sandia National Laboratories. In addition, he was appointed a Frontiers of Science Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences.

Additionally, Lirio announced that Susanne Blazek, PhD, has been named Director of Behavioral Research and will contribute to the lab’s research. Blazek moves to Lirio from Korn Ferry where she was Director of Thought Leadership and Outcomes Research. She has a decade of experience conducting industry-agnostic outcomes research on simulation-based assessments, C-suite and board-level search and select, and behavior change post-leadership development. She has consulted with numerous Fortune 500 companies and serves on the Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies’ scientific committee. She holds a PhD in social psychology from the University of Minnesota.

The Lab’s additions are part of more than 30 new hires to Lirio since January of this year. Additional hires include AI researchers and behavioral scientists specializing in design, data science, and machine learning who are contributing to the lab’s body of work and Lirio’s client services. Also, in January, the company announced a strategic partnership and direct investment from Bon Secours Mercy Health, one of the 20 largest health systems in the US.