As the setter of four-time NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball champions at Washington University, Steph Habif knew how to bring a team together for success. Today, the behavioral scientist is serving as the Senior Director of Behavioral Sciences at Tandem Diabetes Care, working with her team so that fewer diabetes patients have to inject themselves with insulin.

“As a behavioral scientist, it’s important that I make my expertise relevant to the engineers and designers” she explained. “I like to say we advocate for the humans using the machines in health care. We add robust behavioral and psychological insights to Tandem’s human-centered design.”

PLAYING VOLLEYBALL AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Habif knew she wanted to play volleyball in college and was recruited by a few NCAA Division I schools. Her final college visit was to Washington University. “I was on campus for only a few hours when I filled out the early admissions application,” she recalled. “The campus is stunningly beautiful.”

Her immediate connection to the campus extended into the volleyball program. “As soon as I met (head coach) Teri (Clemens) and the team, I wanted to play for them,” she stated. “It was a no-brainer that I decided to attend WashU. When you know, you know.”

Clemens was just as happy to have Habif. “We were strong when she arrived (the Bears had won the previous two NCAA titles) and she still contributed right away on the court and showed signs of leadership. We knew we had a keeper,” she remarked.

Habif finished her career in 1996 with a program-record 4,995 assists, which still ranks first at WashU by more than 300. She also holds Bears’ records with 84 assists in a match (vs. University of California San Diego in 1994). Habif was named to the University Athletic Association (UAA) first team in each of her final three seasons, garnered all-region honors each of those same years, made the NCAA all-tournament team in 1994 and 1996, and was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America first team in her junior and senior campaigns.

“She learned the ins and outs of the setter position quickly,” Clemens said of the WashU Hall-of-Famer. “Most importantly, Steph learned to use her strengths and hide her weaknesses as well as anyone I ever coached. For example, her reading ability on the attacker allowed her to cheat early to prepare to set. She had a great court awareness and she was a coach’s extension on the court. She wasn’t afraid to direct traffic on our court and was respected by coaches and teammates.”

“Teri is a spectacularly special person. Her assistant coaches Brent (Ruoff) and Joe (Worlund) were equally special,” Habif commented. “They are all so different and I love all of them. They were the ‘three amigos’ in a fiercely competitive, ethical, and disciplined way.”

Habif had a great four years of volleyball, but she had some nervous moments before her first year. “The day I got my acceptance letter, I cried, I was so happy,” she recalled. “I became increasingly nervous because Teri had been actively recruiting me and I thought we would communicate, but I hadn’t heard from her. I thought ‘She doesn’t want me anymore. I got in, but maybe she doesn’t want me to play volleyball.’ What I didn’t know was in the fall of 1992, she traveled to Russia to adopt her two daughters!”

For all the victories and the four national championships, Habif’s memories center on the people she shared those years with. “It was the best time of my life. It was fun and it was hard. I learned so much on and off the court, including all the skills I use in my everyday life today,” said Habif, who meets up every summer with two of her best friends from the team, Emmy Sjogren and Claire Zellers. She is also on a text thread with several former teammates. “The best part of playing volleyball was developing these lifelong relationships that are different from any other relationships.”

WINDING ROAD OF ACADEMICS

Although she graduated Washington University with degrees in English literature and psychology, she did not declare a major in her first two years. “I was a true liberal arts student. The first month of my junior year, my academic advisor told me I had to declare a major,” she laughed. “I said, ‘I don’t know what to major in!”

She attended Springfield College for a master’s degree in sport psychology and had the chance to stay in volleyball. “I wanted to be a sport psychologist and had the opportunity to be an assistant coach for the Springfield men’s volleyball team, which won a national championship the year after I completed my masters,” she remembered. “It was a really unique experience.”

Her first post-graduation position was an internship with a team of sport psychologists for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. “I spent a year in Australia and it was beyond amazing,” Habif stated. “At the same time, it taught me that I did not want a career in sport psychology.”

She returned to Washington University to work in the Health & Wellness Department, collaborating with longtime athletic director John Schael on what health and wellness should be and how it serves the community. “That opened the door to public health for me,” she professed.

From there, she went to Columbia University to pursue her doctorate in health behavior sciences. “In order to fund my doctoral studies, I worked full-time at Columbia as a health educator and health program designer,” she described. “I was able to bring all I did in work to the classroom and from the classroom to work.”

Her path seemed to be set with her academic career complete, but something was not right. “The technology-based interventions we designed were not retaining users. I started wondering, ‘Did I just waste the last four years of my life?’ I quit my job and bought a one-way ticket to San Francisco. I needed to go where health technology funding and innovation was happening. I moved there with no friends and no job.”

She was invited to join a research lab at Stanford University, spending half of her time researching and half adjunct teaching. She kept herself busy, working for various companies around Silicon Valley. She spent four years at Stanford and later worked as Senior Strategist at The Design Lab at UC San Diego, the school she set the WashU single-match assist record against.

TANDEM DIABETES CARE

In July 2017, Habif began working with Tandem Diabetes Care in San Diego, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulated medical device company that develops technologies for diabetes care, specifically insulin infusion.

“Groups of people with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes are larger in number than those with type 1 diabetes,” Habif explained. Tandem is focused on getting insulin to those with type 1 (and the small, but growing percentage of type 2s who need insulin).

The overwhelming majority of insulin-dependent patients are using needles and shots. “My company exists because we believe people should not have to inject themselves if they don’t want to. Our technology is embedded with an algorithm that automates much of the decision making, which relieves disease management burden,” Habif remarked. “Technology can make a positive impact. I lead the teams that design these devices to be the most user-friendly.”

Habif sees enormous day-to-day benefits for people with diabetes who use insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors. “You can wear a modern, touchscreen device that allows you discretion. You don’t have to think that much about it and can live a more normal life,” she explained.”

A big part of Habif’s work is behavior change, which is more relevant for pre-diabetes and type 2 populations. “Behavior design is my wheelhouse. I study macro and micro behavioral changes. Type-1 diabetes can’t currently be reversed. You will have it every minute of every day until there is a cure. Psychologically, that is a different story than someone with pre-diabetes,” she expressed. “Most people with type 2 and pre-diabetes have a chance to reverse their health condition, through behavior modification. My grandfather, who I was very close to, developed type 2 diabetes later in his life and my grandmother was meticulous about preparing him dinners that strictly followed recommended nutrition. Not everyone has a doting, detail-oriented spouse who can prepare meals every day.”

Habif is continually working on leaving a legacy of improving people’s health through technology-driven behavior design. Her family continues to put their stamp on Washington University with the Habif Health and Wellness Center, named to honor their longstanding commitment and support. Her main goal is to scale healthy behaviors. “I’ve learned through years ofeducation, individual counseling and health coaching that behavior change solutions can work,” she explained. “Now, how do we scale those effective behavioral solutions to millions of people?”