I just had two article highlights accepted for the Workshop on Interactive Systems in Healthcare, in conjunction with CHI 2017. The first is a new article, “Efficacy of personalized models in discriminating high cognitive demand conditions using text-based interactions”, to be presented as a poster. The second is a 2015 article, “Classifying Text-Based Computer Interactions for Health Monitoring”, to be presented as a talk. Looking forward to seeing people in Denver on May 7!

Hi all! I have just had an article published in the International Journal of Human Computer Studies. The title is “Efficacy of personalized models in discriminating high cognitive demand conditions using text-based interactions” and it talks about individualized models of the stress response as manifested in typing behavior compared to a generic model.

http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.03.001

(The following link takes you to a free access copy until May 26, 2017: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1UqvF3pfaRXqPV)

I just listened to the AMIA closing keynote by Robert Wachter, MD. He presented a compelling argument for use of user-centered design in health information technology. Using powerful examples, he really hammered home the need for understanding work, users, and the transformative nature of switching the work of health to a technological platform. I’m encouraged that a prominent physician really “gets” the critical need for user-centered methods in technology design and development. That he was chosen to deliver a keynote challenging the status quo gives me hope for where the field is headed.

The paper I worked on with Katie O’Leary for AMIA this year, titled “Understanding patients’ health and technology attitudes for tailoring self-management interventions,” won the Homer Warner Award! From AMIA’s website, this award is given to the paper “that best describes approaches to improving computerized information acquisition, knowledge data acquisition and management, and experimental results documenting the value of these approaches.” The paper describes an innovative application of Q-methodology to elicit attitudes toward chronic health management and statistically clustering those results to derive significant composite patient profiles. The important contribution is empirical evidence that demographics like age, race, and educational attainment do not factor into a patient’s use of technology for managing a chronic health condition. These results argue against providers making any assumptions about a patient’s use of information technology based on demographics. Congratulations Katie!

I’m at AMIA in San Francisco right now and although we still have a long way to go, I’m happy to say that Consumer Health Informatics has a much bigger presence than in prior years. Colleagues at University of Washington and UNC-CH made a strong showing. Congratulations to Logan Kendall and co-authors for their Best Student Paper nomination. Also, the paper I worked hard on with Katie O’Leary is up for a Distinguished Paper Award! Yay us!

I landed a Research Assistant Professorship at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – Blue Heaven! My appointment is in the School of Medicine Division of General Medicine and I’m supported my the great NC TraCS center. I’m very happy to join the university and looking forward to working with the talented folks there.

I will be wrapping up my fellowship at UW and now is the time to start looking for what’s next. This experience has been great and I’ve learned better writing skills, learned how to work with clinicians, strengthened my qualitative research skills, and met some wonderful people. I’ve also collaborated on projects on reminders for managing chronic illness, mHealth apps for depression and anxiety, and worked with a local non-profit to get my work out into the world. You can read all about it on my CV page!

If you or someone you know is looking for a Consumer Health Informatician to join their team, let me know!

I have just accepted a position as a Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Washington Medical School in Seattle, WA. This is a program funded by the National Institutes of Health through the National Library of Medicine. I’m looking forward to this next adventure!

I will be attending CHI 2013 in Paris next week. Come and see my poster along with other participants in the Student Research Competition.