Ipek Ensari – Women’s Health Researcher and AI-Driven Digital Health Scientist in NYC

Ipek Ensari, PhD

Closing the Data Gap in Female Reproductive Health

Assistant Professor, Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Department of Medicine, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science

Co-Director, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at ISMMS

Research

I study whether apps, wearables, and AI-based tools are truly reliable and clinically useful for conditions like endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, chronic pelvic pain – and how patients and clinicians can use those data for better decision making and personalized care. My work focuses on a practical question: how do we make mHealth-based digital data not just innovative, but trustworthy, interpretable, and genuinely helpful for the people they are meant to serve?

Validate mHealth Tools

Testing whether apps, wearables, and AI-based health technologies are reliable, valid, and clinically meaningful for reproductive and pelvic pain conditions.

mHealth Data, Done Differently

Developing ways for patients and clinicians to understand data from wearables and Apps in ways that support patient agency, better conversations and decisions.

Personalized Lifestyle Interventions

Studying exercise and other lifestyle-based strategies to improve quality of life and long-term health for people living with chronic pain conditions.

Speaking

I speak on women’s health, AI, and digital health, with a focus on what evidence-driven innovation should look like, bridging across medicine, implementation, data science, and real-world evidence without flattening the complexity of women’s health. I also lead hands-on workshops for femtech and digital-health founders on building credible, stage-appropriate evidence strategies, addressing the gap between health technology marketing and meaningful validation. These workshops cover data collection planning, selecting meaningful outcomes, designing feasible studies, and how to establish and maintain academic research collaborations to generate the needed data and evidence. For conferences, panels, and academic events, I bring a clinically grounded and methodologically rigorous perspective on women’s health research in the age of AI and informed, actionable use of consumer-grade wearables to support health.

Selected topics

  • Are digital health tools truly ready for endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain?

  • How patient-generated data can improve care without adding more confusion

  • Making AI and wearable data clinically interpretable for female reproductive health

  • Personalized exercise and lifestyle interventions for chronic pain and long-term health

  • Practical psychometrics: How to design and implement surveys that are valid and reliable

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Selected Talks

  1. Ensari I. Stepping out of the laboratory: ambulatory assessments in exercise and stress research. Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. March 2018.
  2. Ensari I, Karnad A. Engaging Children in Data Science: Dog Data Scientists and Citizen Science. Data Science in the Classroom Workshop, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY. August 2019.
  3. Ensari I, Elhadad I. Self-managing unpredictable diseases: Tackling heterogeneity in endometriosis. Michigan Institute for Data Science Annual Symposium, Ann Arbor, MI. November 2019.
  4. Ensari I. Functional data methods for characterizing health and disease patterns via mHealth technologies. New York R Conference, New York, NY. June 2022.
  5. Ensari I. Making sense of complex patient-generated mobile health data. New York Open Statistical Programming Group, New York, NY. January 2023.
  6. Ensari I. Augmenting clinical decision-making in women’s health with mHealth Data. The New Wave of AI in Healthcare Symposium, New York, NY. May 2023.
  7. Ensari I. Applications of mHealth data and technologies in women’s reproductive health. Hasso Plattner Institute, Potsdam, Germany. July 2023.
  8. Ensari I. Demystifying the Data: Leveraging digital health and machine learning for women’s reproductive health. Obstetrics and Gynecology Grand Rounds, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. March 2024.
  9. Ensari I. Data Driven Research in Healthcare. Session Chair, The New Wave of AI in Healthcare Symposium, New York, NY. May 2024.
  10. Ensari I. Smooths, splines, and the chamber of secrets – demystifying female reproductive health. New York R Conference, New York, NY. May 2024.
  11. Invited Panelist, 2024 Federal Health Innovation Investors Roundtable – AI Stakeholders. New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), New York, NY. 2024.
  12. Invited Panelist, How AI is revolutionizing cancer detection and care. AHCJ Health Journalism Conference, New York, NY. June 2024.
  13. Ensari I. mHealth, AI, and the chamber of secrets: Demystifying reproductive health. Lesbians Who Tech Summit, New York, NY. September 2024.
  14. Ensari I. Characterization of symptoms and health behaviors via mHealth tech in female chronic pelvic pain disorders. Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health, Potsdam, Germany. October 2024.
  15. Guest Lecturer, AI in Women’s Healthcare. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. November 2024.
  16. Invited Panelist, THINQ: AI Panel for Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai medical student seminar, New York, NY. August 2024.
  17. Distinguished Speaker, Exploring Gender Dimensions in Artificial Intelligence for Diplomats: A Women Empowerment Opportunity and Prevention of Bias. Permanent Mission of Chile to the UN, Google, and UNITAR, New York, NY. March 2025.
  18. Invited Panelist, The Future of Women’s Health Panel, Hasso Plattner Institute Digital Health Innovation Forum, Potsdam, Germany. March 2025.
  19. Guest Lecturer, Applications of functional data methods in research on female reproductive health, Georgetown MS in Data Science and Analytics Program, Speaker Series. April 2025.
  20. Guest Speaker, Digital tech, AI, and female reproductive health, Gynecologic Oncology Research Group, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. June 2025.
  21. Invited Speaker, Facilitator, and Panelist, “Navigating the N-of-1 Trial Implementation: Insights From Women’s Health Research”, GEMINI Summer School Workshop on N-of-1 Personalized Trial Methods, Hasso Plattner Institute, Potsdam, Germany. October 13-16th, 2025.
  22. Invited Speaker, NICHD Annual Virtual Gynecological Pain Meeting, “Actionable mHealth Measures in Women’s Health: Patient-Generated Data Methods”, May 2026.
  23. Invited Speaker, “Mind the Gap: From Daily Digital Data to Actionable Insights in Women’s Health”. The Biology of the Heart and Brain Symposium, New York, NY. February 2026.
  24. Invited Speaker, “Closing the Data Gap: Designing AI-Driven Digital Health For Women”. Hasso Plattner Institute at Mount Sinai Joint Workshop, Icahn School of Medicine, New York, NY. May 2026

Contact

womens health digital data NYGet in touch

Have a speaking request, collaboration idea, or media inquiry? You can submit an inquiry or reach out via through my ISMMS contact. Thank you.