Raleigh, NC – [Feb 8, 2026] – DwellSafe, a company dedicated to bridging the gap between healthcare and home safety, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Duke University School of Medicine to support a student-driven Duke Bass Connections project, “Home Design for the Visually Impaired”. This effort aims to advance innovation, translational research, and evidence-based solutions that improve home safety and accessibility for individuals with low vision.
The student project builds on pioneering clinical and research work led by Dr. Diane Whitaker, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, and Omar Mohiuddin, OTR/L, MS, MPH, CLVT, an occupational therapist, at the Duke Eye Center in Durham, North Carolina.
A joint steering committee will oversee initiatives such as developing improved assessment criteria for occupational therapists, creating educational home-safety resources for individuals with low vision, jointly evaluating innovative technologies including AI-enabled tools, supporting translational research and co-development of enabling resources and grant proposals, and coordinating strategies for knowledge transfer, scale-up, and broad public access to validated home-safety solutions.
“This collaboration advances our mission to treat the home as part of the clinical encounter, so more people, regardless of age, ability, or location, have access to expert-backed, evidence-based guidance,” said Dr. James Taylor, CEO of DwellSafe. “We look forward to working with Duke to develop and evaluate tools that improve safety, accessibility, and independence for people with visual impairment.”
“At Duke, we are committed to educational and research partnerships that translate research into real-world impact,” said Ed Pagani, PhD, Executive Director of the Duke Office for External Partnerships. “This project provides opportunities to advance practical, scalable solutions that support individuals with visual impairment and strengthen their ability to live safely and independently in their homes.”
The MOU reflects shared interests in improving quality of life for people with low vision by integrating clinical insights, design innovation, occupational therapy expertise, and emerging technologies. Through this collaboration, both organizations aim to support academic research, enhance student learning, and accelerate the real-world implementation of home-safety solutions that improve outcomes for individuals and families nationwide.
About DwellSafe
DwellSafe is a healthcare technology company designed to integrate the home into modern clinical care. Founded by physicians and healthcare professionals, DwellSafe enables clinicians to prescribe virtual, AI-powered, clinician-reviewed home safety assessments that capture environmental risk alongside patient health data. These insights are returned directly to care teams in an actionable format, allowing providers to address fall-related hazards and accessibility needs through a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach. By creating a consistent, scalable pathway between the home and the healthcare system, DwellSafe supports fall prevention, recovery, and aging in place while aligning with contemporary clinical workflows, data standards, and transitions-of-care models. By being initiated through physician prescription, DwellSafe is able to reach the tens of millions of patients each year who are clinically eligible for a home safety assessment but often go unsupported with traditional, in-person models.
