Featured Member

What drew you to MiCHAMP?

MiCHAMP was really the perfect group for me because it so nicely aligns with my own research interests. MiCHAMP regularly brings together a group of really smart people with complimentary expertise, clinical researchers, statisticians, engineers, computer scientists, interested in solving tough problems in healthcare using novel computational approaches. For me, it doesn’t get more exciting.

What specific expertise do you bring to MiCHAMP?

As a physician who practices in the intensive care unit, I have a fairly good understanding of the challenges that clinician’s face as they try to provide high quality care. I can help direct and focus the research of my technical collaborators towards questions that hopefully have the highest impact on patient care. It is exciting that more people with engineering and computer science backgrounds are working in healthcare, but they need the clinical expertise to provide them the context and nuance of the field. This goes both ways. I have really tried hard to bridge this gap by gaining the technical fluency to enable these conversations.

What are your research interests and how do they tie into MiCHAMP?

My primary research interest is in improving diagnosis of acute respiratory illnesses. My focus has been on the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, a severe inflammatory lung illness that develops in patients in the intensive care unit. I also have interest in diagnosis of acute heart failure, pneumonia, and COPD. Early, accurate diagnosis of these conditions is critical for providing the right care and achieving the best clinical outcomes. I am trying to leverage routinely collected electronic health data, apply machine learning and other computationally intensive techniques to improve clinical diagnosis, which will ultimately lead to better care.