Anders Johnson
Researcher at Stanford University School of Medicine
Using smartphones, wearables, and AI to understand and improve cardiovascular health, at scale.
About My Work at Stanford
Most people know me as an athlete, but alongside competing on the USA Cycling National Track Team, I work at Stanford University School of Medicine as a clinical researcher.
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I manage and coordinate two studies focused on cardiovascular health and human performance. One uses a smartphone app to study the heart health of thousands of everyday people. The other recruits the world's best endurance athletes to study what makes them exceptional. Between the two, I get to think about cardiovascular science from both ends of the spectrum.
The Research
What is It:
Stanford's first digital cardiovascular health study. The original My Heart Counts app, launched in 2015, enrolled over 54,000 participants and was downloaded by more than 110,000 people, making it the largest ResearchKit study ever run. The next generation of the study builds on that foundation with a fully redesigned app, embedded AI coaching, multi-language capabilities, and iOS and Android options.
My Role:
Project Manager. I oversee day-to-day operations of the study, coordinate across research teams, and help manage our embedded clinical trial testing AI-powered health coaching.
Why it Matters:
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, and physical activity is one of the most powerful tools we have to improve heart health and prevent disease. The My Heart Counts study helps researchers better understand how everyday movement and lifestyle habits can improve health outcomes on a large scale.
What is It:
An international research collaboration searching for the genetic factors that underpin elite endurance performance. We recruit the world's top endurance athletes, those with a lifetime peak VOâ‚‚max above 65 mL/min/kg for men and 55 for women, and study their genetics, physiology, and health data.
My Role:
Clinical Research Coordinator. I manage participant recruitment, data collection, and preliminary analysis across this global athlete cohort.
Why it matters:
Understanding the biology of peak performance doesn't just help athletes, it unlocks insights into cardiovascular resilience, ageing, and disease prevention for everyone.
Articles/Writings
ELITE VO2max and Performance Time Mini Poster
Publications
14 publications · Listed in reverse chronological order
2026
Assessing the feasibility of using smartphone data to identify risk of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension Delgado-SanMartin JA, Keles M, Errington N, et al. npj Cardiovascular Health · Mar 2026
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Design and Rationale of the My Heart Counts Cardiovascular Health Study: a Large-Scale, Fully Digital Biobank, and Randomized Trial of Large Language Model-Driven Coaching of Physical Activity Schmiedmayer P, Johnson A, Schütz N, et al. American Journal of Preventive Cardiology · Mar 2026
2025
Practice Patterns in Testing Procedures and Interpretation of Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Churchill TW, Steinmetz K, Johnson A, et al. JACC Advances · Dec 2025
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Fine-tuning LLMs in behavioral psychology for scalable health coaching Mantena S, Johnson A, Oppezzo M, et al.npj Cardiovascular Health · Sep 2025
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Remote monitoring of physical activity captured by the MyHeart Counts app identifies pulmonary arterial hypertension Delgado San Martin J, Errington N, Schütz N, et al. Preprint · Apr 2025
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Fine-tuning Large Language Models in Behavioral Psychology for Scalable Physical Activity Coaching Mantena SD, Johnson A, Oppezzo M, et al. Preprint · Feb 2025
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Unlocking insights: Clinical associations from the largest 6-minute walk test collection via the My Heart Counts Cardiovascular Health Study, a fully digital smartphone platform Kim DS, Schütz N, Johnson A, et al. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases · Jan 2025
2024
Data release and baseline analysis of the largest collection of 6-minute walk tests: the My Heart Counts Cardiovascular Health Study, a fully digital smartphone platform Kim DS, Schütz N, Johnson A, et al. Preprint · Jun 2024 · medRxiv
2023
Mobile Health Fitness Interventions Razaghizad A, McKee T, Malhamé I, et al. JACC Advances · Oct 2023
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Personalized digital behaviour interventions increase short-term physical activity: a randomized control crossover trial substudy of the MyHeart Counts Cardiovascular Health Study Javed A, Kim DS, Hershman S, et al. European Heart Journal – Digital Health · Aug 2023
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Personalized digital behavior interventions increase short term physical activity: a randomized control crossover trial substudy of the MyHeart Counts Cardiovascular Health study Kim DS, Javed A, Hershman S, et al. Preprint · Apr 2023
2022
Mobile Health Study Incorporating Novel Fitness Test Johnson A, Hershman S, Javed A, et al. Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research · Sep 2022
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Mobile Health Fitness Applications: A Quantitative Analysis of Features and Barriers to Routine Use and Data Sharing Acceptability Razaghizad A, Malhamé I, McKee T, et al. Preprint · Jul 2022