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George Hripcsak, Interim Chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics, is the new CAIM Director. George has been Vice Chair, DBMI. His work has included collaboration with New York Presbyterian Hospital and the NYC Department of Health. He assumes the CAIM role in April 10, 2007. (See Who We Are / Management Team for more details.)
Ted Shortliffe, CAIM Director and Chair of Biomedical Informatics has departed Columbia University for the University of Arizona, College of Medicine — Phoenix where he is Dean of the Faculty. Ted was CAIM Director for seven years and, among his other achievements, was responsible for initiating the Affiliates program, the Columbia University Biomedical Informatics Consulting service (CUBIC), and the workforce training course in biomedical informatics.
Elizabeth (Liz) Chen, Associate Research Scientist in DBMI and CAIM Assistant Clinical Director has accepted a position as Senior Medical Informatician at Partners Healthcare with an academic appointment at Harvard University starting April 2007. Liz received her MA, MPhil, and PhD degrees in Biomedical Informatics from Columbia University.
Faculty from Columbia´s nursing, public health, and medical schools were recently elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine, one of the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health. Among them was Suzanne Bakken, R.N., F.A.A.N., D.N.Sc., Alumni Professor of Nursing in the School of Nursing and professor of biomedical informatics in P&S and the School of Nursing. Awardees were chosen through a highly selective process that recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to advancing the medical science, health care, and public health fields. Sue has also received the American Medical Informatics Association´s 2006 Virginia K. Saba Informatics Award, which recognizes an individual with exemplary principles and practices and a substantial record of contribution to the field of nursing informatics.
The Intensive Course in Biomedical Informatics has been postponed and will not be offered in May 2007 as originally planned. Check here for updates and a new schedule.
CAIM and Columbia University will be active supporters of the planned NYSTAR-sponsored Regional Partnership, whose mandate is "to create a more fertile environment for job creation and retention, and provide businesses with the know-how to capitalize on their potential." The state-wide initiative is being lead by ITAC (Industrial and Technology Assistance Corporation) in NYC.
The Center for Advanced Information Management is pleased to join with the New York Academy of Sciences to offer a new short course entitled Advances in Medical Imaging: Techniques, Applications, and Target Organs: The Four Dimensional Future. The course will be held at the new NYAS headquarters in World Trade Center 7. Researchers and clinicians from Columbia and other institutions will discuss new and innovative imaging techniques. Check this web page for the agenda and registration.
 The CAIM Technology Forum 2007 will be held in the Clark Conference Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The Forum will feature keynote speaker, Dr. Donald Rucker, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Siemens Medical Systems and other speakers from industry and institutions discussing various aspects of critical and emergency department care, including nursing informatics, public health, and systems implementation. Check this web page for the agenda and registration.
Ted Shortliffe, CAIM Director and Chair of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia is the 2006 recipient of the Morris F. Collen Award of Excellence, given by the American College of Medical Informatics. The award, made to top leaders in the field, reflects Ted's lifelong dedication to medical informatics. It happens to coincide with the publication of the third edition of Biomedical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine (Springer, 2006), the primary textbook in the field, on which Ted is senior editor.
The Columbia University School of Nursing was recently awarded the 21st Century Achievement Award in the category of Education & Academia by the Computerworld Honors Program. The award was in recognition of the innovative use of personal digital assistants by nurse practitioner students. The project was led by Dr. Suzanne Bakken, RN, DNSc (Alumni Professor of Nursing and Professor of Biomedical Informatics) and was funded by the Health Resources Services Administration.
On June 19, thirteen senior managers from various industries visited the Columbia health sciences campus for a review and discussion of the educational programs of the Department of Biomedical Informatics. The focus was on industry’s needs for preparing graduates for the commercial workplace. Participants included Collette Hunt (Cerner), David Shaw (D. E. Shaw & Co.), John Gomez and Matt Sappern (Eclipsys), Martin Chavez (Goldman Sachs), Michel Dufresne (Medco), Aurelia Boyer (New York Presbyterian Hospital), Michael Oppenheim (North Shore - LIJ Health System), Steve Labkoff and David Leventhal (Pfizer), Kees Von Zon (Philips Research USA), Kenneth Ong (St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center), and Robert Corona and Sam Carello (WelchAllyn). A summary of the highlights will be posted on the Reports/Documents page of this web site.
Proposals from Columbia faculty for CAIM grants with industry co-sponsorship have been announced following a peer review in June. The following awards (title, PI, PI Department, company co-sponsor, award) will begin July 1, 2006
Mobile Medical Monitor
Desmond Jordan, M.D.; Departments of Biomedical Informatics and Anesthesiology
Verizon
$50,000
Machine Learning Algorithms and Applications to the Electric Power Grid
Dave Waltz, Ph.D.; Center for Computational Learning
ConEd
$100,000
Aetna Intellihealth E-Health Development and Evaluation
David A. Albert, D.D.S., M.P.H.; Community Dentistry, College of Dental Medicine
Aetna Health
$49,511
Security and Presence: Measurements, Tools, and Prototypes
Henning Schulzrinne, Ph.D.; Computer Science Department
Verizon
$25,000
Joint Philips-Columbia Development Program in Medical Imaging: Refinement and Product Integration
Andrew F. Laine, D.Sc.; Biomedical Engineering Department
Philips Research USA
$25,059
Proposals for new projects may be submitted during the project year and will be considered pending available funds.
One of the funded projects (Machine Learning Algorithms and Applications to the Electric Power Grid) is a continuation of a 2005-06 project in which Columbia expertise is helping Consolidated Edison develop technologies that allow for higher system reliability and cost containment. The project involves the design and testing of machine learning algorithms using historical ConEd data to produce systems that can predict electric power grid component and system failures. This allows for proactive maintenance, deeper understanding of grid behavior, and avoidance of the need for replacement of reliable components.
Following the path of the first short course (Intensive Course in Biomedical Informatics), the CAIM staff is working with medical imaging specialists to develop a short course for physicians and other healthcare workers that covers both the latest operational and futuristic techniques. Advances in Medical Imaging: Techniques, Applications and Target Organs. The Four Dimensional Future will cover a range of techniques and maturities, from basic research to clinical use. Instructors have been selected from specialists at Columbia and other NYC medical centers. The course will be offered in early 2007. Check the calendar for details.
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