October 30, 2025

Interdisciplinary team combines wearable biosensing, machine learning, and personalized nutrition

Two DMC students are pioneering the future of personalized nutrition with GutFeel, a digital health platform that uses artificial intelligence to predict how individual bodies respond to food in real-time. The project merges wearable technology, continuous glucose monitoring, and machine learning to help people understand their unique digestive and metabolic patterns before symptoms occur.

The Vision

Magdalena Nikolova, a Biology/Neuroscience major, and Hristo Denev, a Computer Science major, recognized that more than 60% of adults experience gastrointestinal discomfort, yet existing diet apps treat everyone the same. Their solution: integrate continuous glucose monitors (CGM) with heart rate variability (HRV) data from smartwatches, then use Azure Machine Learning to build predictive models tailored to each person’s physiology.

“We’re shifting from reactive symptom tracking to proactive prediction,” the team explains. By analyzing how specific foods, timing, and stress levels affect digestion and metabolism, GutFeel empowers users – from pre-diabetic individuals to athletes to clinical patients – to make informed decisions based on their unique biology.

Building a Research-Grade Platform

The project leverages Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure, combining Azure IoT Central for data collection, Azure Machine Learning for prediction (using Random Forest and LSTM models), and a .NET MAUI + Blazor interface for the user experience. The result is what the team calls “the world’s first adaptive gut-response intelligence system.”

IRB-Approved Study

Under the guidance of faculty advisors Dr. Paramjeet Bagga and Dr. Scott Frees, Nikolova and Denev secured IRB approval to conduct a controlled study with approximately 20 participants from Ramapo College and the local community. Participants will wear CGM sensors and Garmin Vivosmart 5 smartwatches for two weeks while logging meals and symptoms through a custom web application.

Industry Recognition and Support

The project has already attracted significant external support:

• Dexcom and Abbott, two of the world’s largest continuous glucose monitoring companies, provided funding for 44 CGM sensors (valued at approximately $2,200) – more than double what the team initially requested
• The team is entering Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, one of the world’s largest technology and innovation competitions for students, which encourages young developers and researchers to use technology to solve meaningful real-world problems. The competition provides mentorship, funding opportunities, and global visibility for selected projects. If GutFeel wins in May 2026, the team will receive $50,000 USD to scale their platform into a startup. Participation in the competition also grants the team access to $1,000 in Microsoft Azure credits to support the project’s cloud computing and machine learning infrastructure needs.

Impact Beyond Campus

By participating in Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, the GutFeel project brings international visibility to Ramapo College while connecting DMC students with leaders in AI, cloud computing, and digital health. The platform’s potential extends from reducing gastrointestinal-related healthcare costs to improving quality of life at the population level through personalized, data-driven nutritional guidance.

The DMC continues to demonstrate how interdisciplinary collaboration – combining biology, computer science, data analytics, and cloud computing – can address real-world health challenges while providing students with hands-on research experience and entrepreneurial opportunities.

DMC Majors & Degrees

Ramapo College offers majors leading to science degrees in computer science, data science, cybersecurity, bioinformatics, and mathematics. At the graduate level, students can earn a master’s degree in data science, computer science, and applied mathematics, all of which can be completed as 4+1 programs for a BS/MS in just five years. To learn more about DMC undergraduate and graduate degrees offered, visit ramapo.edu/dmc.