Taking medicine into technology route
Taking medicine into technology route
Professor Yuri Quintana, the Director of Global Health Informatics at Harvard Medical School in the US
Puleng Maphisa
Professor Yuri Quintana, the Director of Global Health Informatics at Harvard Medical School in the US had a meet and greet session with the Department of ICT at Vaal University of Technology (VUT) at Quest Conference centre. The professor was welcomed by the ICT Head of Department Dr A. Harmse and Prof T. Zuva. The Dean of Applied and Computer Sciences Prof. B. R. Mabuza who was in attendance indicated that collaboration should be one of things that should be considered during the meet and greet session.
Prof Quintana, who is also a co-Chief of the Division of Clinical Informatics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard, said his research focuses on developing innovative technologies that empower healthcare professionals and patients to collaborate on a worldwide basis.
One of his projects is InfoSAGE – Information Sharing across Generations – which is an innovation and research programme created to help elderly people and their families more easily find resources, better coordinated care with one another and with doctors.
Families can use the free InfoSAGE website and app to find health information, share important information and coordinate relevant things, such as medication lists.
“This network has 257 registered users and 52 of these opted into an in-depth longitudinal study,” said Prof Quintana who is encouraging families and patients to take part in the ongoing research.
While talking about his project, he also said that the implementation of informatics programmes in low-and-middle income countries remains difficult and sustainability is even more challenging.
In closing, Mr Prajesh Bhikha, Research Marketing Assistant, who represented Dr Simpiwe Nelana, Research Director said that they would love to extend the relationship that they have with Prof Quintana. The objective is to have more interaction with him to learn more about his research. He further mentioned that they are grateful for the sharing of information and that it should be extended to medical facilities in South Africa.