Dr. Wanda Pratt is a Professor in the Information School with an adjunct appointment in Biomedical & Health Informatics in the Medical School at the University of Washington. She received her Ph.D. in Medical Informatics from Stanford University, her M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Texas, and her B.S. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Kansas. Her research focuses on understanding patients’ needs and designing new technologies to address those needs. She has worked with people coping with a variety of chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, asthma, and heart disease. Dr. Pratt has received best paper awards from the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, and the Journal of the American Society of Information Science & Technology (JASIS&T). Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, Intel, and Microsoft. Dr. Pratt is a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics. In addition, she is on the Board of Directors for AMIA, and Chaired their 2016 Annual Symposium.
Shefali is a PhD student in Biomedical and Health Informatics at the University of Washington. Her primary research interests are in understanding how technology can make hospital care safer and more engaging for patients and their informal caregivers. She is currently exploring patient perspectives on safety events in the hospital, and how informational and emotional support from other patients might help increase patient involvement in reporting, preventing, and managing the effects of hospital errors. Previously, Shefali received her Bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University, where she majored in Information Management & Technology and Biology. Before starting her PhD program at UW, she gained experience in health IT research as a systems analyst at Albany Medical Center, and as a researcher at the New York State Department of Health.
Dr. Ari Pollack is a pediatric nephrologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. His research interests focus on the delivery of clinical information to both patients and healthcare professionals to improve clinical outcomes through information visualization. In addition, he is interested in using technology to increase patient engagement, especially for those living with a chronic illness. His prior work experience includes time at Seattle Children’s Hospital working on its electronic health record and developing novel interfaces to improve clinician workflows. In addition, he has taught a course on electronic health records for the University of Washington’s Clinical Informatics and Patient Centered Technology master’s program. In 2014, Dr. Pollack was part of the first group of clinicians to become board certified in Clinical Informatics. He obtained his BS and MA in Biology from University of California, Los Angeles, his MD degree from Tulane University, and a Master’s of Science in Information Management from the University of Washington’s Information School.
Maher earned his PharmD in 2012. He started his pharmaceutical studies in Senegal, University of Cheikh Anta Diop then he joined the Faculty of pharmacy in Tunisia where he graduated. Believing in the imminent need of adopting Biomedical informatics in developing countries, he joined BHI with the Sponsorship of the Fulbright program. During his master’s studies in BHI, he joined Professor Wanda Pratt’s research group-Patient-As-Safeguards-to work on understanding patients’ information needs. Maher earned a Ms degree in Biomedical and health informatics. His Ms thesis research focused on Design Recommendation for Pharmacogenomics Clinical Decision Support Systems. Currently, He is continuing his work as a PhD student in BHI and as a Research Assistant in the Patient-As-Safeguards project.
Sonali Mishra is a PhD student at the University of Washington Information School. She is interested in using technology to help people engage in their healthcare and make healthy decisions to achieve their goals. Before coming to UW, she worked at the University of Michigan Libraries as an Information Architect. She earned her MSI degree at the University of Michigan School of Information in 2011. You can read more about her projects at:http://srmishra.com
Kelsey is a second year Informatics student at the University of Washington. She has been working with the Patients As Safeguards project for 2 years now. She is interested in focusing her studies on human computer interaction and user experience design. In her free time Kelsey enjoys golfing, reading, and exploring the city of Seattle.
Jordan Eschler is a PhD candidate at the University of Washington Information School. She works in patient-centered design of health information systems. Her thesis research presents an illness phase-based model of informational and emotional needs in the context of young adult cancer treatment and survivorship.
My name is Rashmi G. Elera and I am a student at the University of Washington double majoring in Health Informatics and Information Technology. I am particularly interested in making technology more efficient and useful for people. I am fascinated by the design and use of technology to improve people’s safety and lives.
Cory Sport Brown is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Informatics with a concentration in data science from the University of Washington Information School. As a soon to be graduate, Cory is working towards a career in business process improvement with an emphasis on data or system analytics. With his unique perspective as a former cancer patient at Seattle Children’s Hospital, he is passionate about bridging the gap between technology and medicine and improving the patient experience in a hospital setting. In his free time Cory enjoys hiking, playing baseball or basketball, and skiing on lakes and mountains.