Ashley West, Ph.D.
Director, Behavioral Design
“The mountains are calling and I must go.”
– John Muir
Dr. Ashley West has a deep appreciation for nature, and as a child was often found exploring the great outdoors. That active lifestyle and a natural curiosity about how the human body moves led to academic pursuits in exercise science (Colorado State University) and kinesiology (Penn State).
Her passion evolved over time, expanding into a broader focus on helping people build healthy habits beyond physical activity. “Mind over matter” is the golden thread through much of Dr. West’s career. She has extensive experience designing digital health interventions in both academic and industry settings, and is considered a leading resource in using wearables and biometric data to quantify and drive behavior change.
Dr. West joined Lirio in August 2020 and is now Lirio’s Director of Behavioral Design. She leads the end-to-end process of developing Precision Nudging interventions, from defining the target behavior to intervention implementation and evaluation.
Throughout her career, Dr. West’s research has earned her recognition, including a NIDA pre-doctoral fellowship in prevention and methodology at Penn State. She has authored several publications focused on behavioral science and digital health. Coming out of her doctoral training, Dr. West was especially drawn to using AI to scale intervention development—particularly for just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs). Her fascination with the vast amounts of data available to understand and alter human behavior only deepened, and she believes AI provides the critical tools to drive impactful change.
She lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.
LinkedIn URL: www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-b-west-lirio
Fun Facts
Special Hobbies/Interests: Ashley enjoys running half marathons, exploring national parks. A true fan of Lirio orange, she is passionate about cheering on the Vols at University of Tennessee sporting events.
Family life: Ashley has lived in six U.S. states and is always eager to learn about new cities and the lifestyles within them. She believes that immersion in different places fosters personal growth, particularly in developing empathy and understanding for others.
Extra Credit
- PhD in Kinesiology
- Master of Science in Health and Exercise Science