New research uses virtual worlds to enhance patient care

04/24/2009

(Edmonton) - An innovative new Health Services Education program uses virtual reality technologies to simulate the fast-paced, complex world of the modern hospital. Researchers at the University of Alberta’s Health Sciences Education and Research Commons (HSERC) are working with iCORE Industry Research chair Dr. Eleni Stroulia.

The goal of the cross-disciplinary project is to develop simulation-based training for health science teams in a virtual classroom setting. Dr. Stroulia and her team are collaborating with faculty members in U of A’s departments of business, education and health sciences.

“Interdisciplinary projects like this demonstrate how well Alberta’s innovation system works and how we’ll capture greater interdisciplinary synergies under our new innovation system, introduced in legislation this year,” said Honourable Doug Horner, Minister of Advanced Education and Technology. “Health research is one of our priorities. Dr. Stroulia’s innovative research, together with the right mix of partners, brings the benefits of new technologies to patients in and beyond Alberta.”

Dr. Stroulia is the newest iCORE Industry Research Chair recipient, receiving $2.25 million in funding over five years through Alberta’s Informatics Circle of Research Excellence (iCORE), IBM Canada and the University of Alberta (U of A). The iCORE Industrial Research Chair supports Dr. Stroulia’s work in Service Systems Management with her research on problems relevant to the software industry. Dr. Stroulia has extensive experience focusing on the technical and socio-economic concerns around building software systems that help organizations provide services to their clients.

“This partnership demonstrates what great strides can be made in advancing patient care through technology when government, university and industry work together. We look forward to the significant impact that Dr. Stroulia’s work will have in the training of professionals in the health science community,” said Dr. Gregory Taylor, Dean, Faculty of Science at the U of A.

“The iCORE Industry Chair Program attracts world-class researchers, like Dr. Stroulia, to Alberta where IBM Canada is proud to play a key role in supporting leading-edge research,” says Bernie Kollman, Vice President, Public Sector Alberta, IBM Canada Ltd. “Today's announcement marks a new chapter in our innovation partnership with Alberta. We look forward to partnering with Dr. Stroulia to drive future innovations that will benefit Alberta, the rest of Canada, and ultimately the world.”
 

Backgrounder Project partners, Dr. Stroula’s biography, funding details

Media inquiries may be directed to:
Sho Sengupta, Communications Director
Informatics Circle of Research Excellence
403-606-7284
sengupta@icore.ca      Earl McKenzie, Public Affairs Officer
Advanced Education and Technology
780-415-0891
earl.mckenzie@gov.ab.ca

To call toll-free within Alberta dial 310-0000.









































Page 2 of 2



Backgrounder

   

April 22, 2009

Health Services Education Project

Partners

Advanced Education and Technology (AET)
Investing in science and technology today is critical to ensure prosperity and a high quality of life tomorrow. Alberta Advanced Education and Technology focuses on the application of science and research and the innovative use of technology to shape the future of the province.
 
Alberta Informatics Circle of Research Excellence (iCORE)
iCORE invests in high-calibre research scientists working on fundamental and applied problems in emerging areas such as intelligent software systems, wireless communications, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, and quantum and nano-computing.
 
University of Alberta (U of A)
The U of A, one of the world’s top research universities, is one of Canada’s foremost medical-doctoral post-secondary institutions. The university serves over 36,000 graduate and undergraduate students and offers more than 700 courses in 90 undergraduate and graduate degrees, diploma and certificate programs.
 
IBM Canada Ltd.
IBM Canada Ltd. is one of Canada's leading providers of advanced information technology, products, services and business consulting expertise. Collaboration with university researchers through its Centres for Advanced Studies was recognized in 2006 with a Synergy Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). IBM Canada contributed over $377 million (CDN) in 2007 to research and development in Canada.
 
Biography – Dr. Eleni Stroulia
Dr. Eleni Stroulia holds M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a professor with the department of computing science at the U of A. She is an internationally recognized expert in software design and analysis, web-based system development and service-oriented systems. She serves on the editorial board of the Computational Intelligence Journal, is general Chair of the International conference on Software Maintenance 2009 to held in Edmonton in September and is the director of the Outreach Program of the computing science department at the U of A, where as a member of the WISEST advisory board, she encourages youth, and especially young women, to pursue careers in computing science. 

Project funding
Government of Alberta through iCORE     $500,000
University of Alberta    $1.07 million
IBM Canada    $685,000
-30-
Media inquiries may be directed to:
Sho Sengupta, Communications Director
Informatics Circle of Research Excellence
403-606-7284
sengupta@icore.ca      Earl McKenzie, Public Affairs Officer
Advanced Education and Technology
780-415-0891
earl.mckenzie@gov.ab.ca