March 4, 2026
The Center for Buddhist Studies is pleased to recognize Dr. Duo Bao as a recipient of the Integrative Well-Being Prize.
Dr. Bao is a researcher at the University of Arizona working at the intersection of digital health, wearable technologies, and integrative well-being. Trained in information science with interdisciplinary experience across health sciences and cultural studies, his work explores how health data and experimental methods can be integrated with contemplative and human-centered perspectives. He is committed to designing reflective and responsible technologies that support preventive health, clinical insight, and sustainable well-being.
🏆 Awarded Project:
Mapping Calm, Measuring Awareness: Spatial and Physiological Pathways to Integrative Well-Being
Mapping Calm, Measuring Awareness: Spatial and Physiological Pathways to Integrative Well-Being
Phase I: Place, Perception, and Mindfulness
The first phase investigates how everyday environments shape experiences of calm, focus, and stress. By combining geographic mapping with reflective self-report, participants identify campus locations associated with specific emotional states. The collected data are translated into interactive spatial visualizations, revealing patterns of well-being across the University of Arizona campus. By comparing reflections before and after mindfulness practice, the project examines how contemplative engagement may transform the perception of space. This phase advances a place-based, experiential model of well-being that integrates spatial analysis, mindfulness, and community awareness.
The first phase investigates how everyday environments shape experiences of calm, focus, and stress. By combining geographic mapping with reflective self-report, participants identify campus locations associated with specific emotional states. The collected data are translated into interactive spatial visualizations, revealing patterns of well-being across the University of Arizona campus. By comparing reflections before and after mindfulness practice, the project examines how contemplative engagement may transform the perception of space. This phase advances a place-based, experiential model of well-being that integrates spatial analysis, mindfulness, and community awareness.
Phase II: Embodied Calm and Wearable Data
The second phase approaches integrative well-being through experimental health science. Participants engage in guided meditation under varying environmental conditions while wearing devices that collect physiological data. Through data-driven analysis, the project examines how the body transitions from stress toward coordinated, regulated states. By bridging subjective contemplative experience with measurable biological processes, this research contributes new frameworks for stress management, preventive health strategies, and clinical applications in psychological and rehabilitative contexts.
The second phase approaches integrative well-being through experimental health science. Participants engage in guided meditation under varying environmental conditions while wearing devices that collect physiological data. Through data-driven analysis, the project examines how the body transitions from stress toward coordinated, regulated states. By bridging subjective contemplative experience with measurable biological processes, this research contributes new frameworks for stress management, preventive health strategies, and clinical applications in psychological and rehabilitative contexts.
Dr. Bao’s two-phase initiative exemplifies the promise of interdisciplinary scholarship—where contemplative practice, digital innovation, and medical inquiry converge to deepen our understanding of embodied well-being.
Congratulations, Dr. Bao, on this forward-looking and impactful achievement.