Epic Allies on Caktus Group

The Journal of Medical Internet Research Features Epic Allies Phase 1 Study Results

Thu, 16 Jun 2016 12:00:00 +0000

The Journal of Medical Internet Research recently published “Epic Allies: Development of a Gaming App to Improve Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among Young HIV-Positive Men Who Have Sex With Men”. Epic Allies, initially funded by a federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, represents a partnership between Caktus, UNC’s Institute of Global Health and Infection Diseases, and Duke Global Health Institute.

Epic Allies Featured at mHealth at Duke 2015 Conference

Fri, 19 Jun 2015 12:00:00 +0000

At this year’s mHealth at Duke 2015 Conference, Dr. Lisa Hightow-Weidman discussed her current mHealth projects for HIV prevention. Chief among these projects is her work with Caktus Group on Epic Allies, a mobile gaming app that utilizes social media and mini-games to increase adherence to prescribed medication amongst HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM).

Q2 2015 ShipIt Day ReCap

Thu, 14 May 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Last Friday everyone at Caktus set aside their regular client projects for our quarterly ShipIt Day, a chance for Caktus employees to take some time for personal development and independent projects. People work individually or in groups to flex their creativity, tackle interesting problems, or expand their personal knowledge. This quarter’s ShipIt Day saw everything from game development to Bokeh data visualization, Lego robots to superhero animation. Read more about the various projects from our Q2 2015 ShipIt Day.

AIGA Durham Studio Tour Recap

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 12:00:00 +0000

This was the first year Caktus Group participated in the AIGA studio tour and the turnout was amazing. From 5:30 PM till the 9:00 PM close, we had visitors ranging from students to tenured professionals in the design and web development fields sharing stories and touring the newly renovated Caktus Group office. Members from the Caktus design, development, and management teams were present to field questions, give tours, and show select works from the past year.

Epic Allies Team Members to Speak at Innovate your Cool

Thu, 16 Apr 2015 14:10:43 +0000

The Art of Cool festival is a staple of spring happenings in the Triangle. A three-day festival to present, promote, and preserve jazz and jazz-influenced music, The Art of Cool always promises to be a great time for those interested in music, art, and delicious food from Durham’s many food trucks. But what does music have to do with programming and app development? This year, Caktus Group is helping to sponsor a new portion of the festival called Innovate Your Cool. Innovate Your Cool celebrates the power of cool ideas, advancing innovative thinking by bringing together intelligent people with radically new ideas.

Making a Difference for Teens and Young Adults Living with HIV

Wed, 21 Jan 2015 14:00:33 +0000

Caktus has always pursued projects that make a difference in the world, particularly around HIV/AIDs. Now we’re hoping to provide a technology solution to a population that’s notoriously difficult to treat: teens and young adults living with HIV. They’re disproportionately impacted by new infections and, in the South in particular, those with HIV/AIDs have the lowest survival rates of any group living with the disease.

The Triangle Business Journal: Fighting the South's Low Survival Rate for Those with HIV/AIDS

Mon, 19 Jan 2015 18:26:50 +0000

The Triangle Business Journal recognized Caktus’ work in the fight against HIV/AIDS in an important article discussing lower survival rates for those diagnosed with the disease in the southern United States. The article lauds our work on the medication adherence app Epic Allies as innovative in the effort to develop and maintain consistent medication habits for those living with HIV/AIDS.

Caktus Attends YTH Live

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 12:00:00 +0000

Last week Tobias and I had a great time attending our first Youth+Tech+Health Live conference. I went to present along with our partners Sara LeGrand and Emily Pike from Duke and UNC respectively on our NIH/SBIR funded game focused on encouraging HIV medication adherence. The panel we spoke on “Stick to it: Tech for Medical Adherence + Health Interventions” was rounded out by Dano Beck from the Oregon Health Authority speaking about how they have used SMS message reminders successfully to increase HIV medication adherence in Oregon.

Caktus Presenting HIV mHealth Gamification App for Adherence in San Francisco

Tue, 01 Apr 2014 12:00:00 +0000

We’re pleased to announce that Caktus will be presenting Epic Allies, an mHealth Gamification App to improve ART drug adherence for HIV patients, at this year’s YTH Live in San Francisco.

UNC, Duke Team up with Carrboro-based Caktus Group on HIV Gaming App

Wed, 16 Oct 2013 20:46:13 +0000

The following is a press release posted in partnership with our team at UNC and Duke.

The web application development company Caktus Group has teamed up with researchers at the UNC Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases and the Duke Global Health Institute to develop a mobile phone app that may help patients better adhere to their medication regimens.