28 February 2013

Job Opening - Health Scientist (Informatics) - Los Angeles, CA


ISDS would like to share a recently released employment opportunity from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Please find all details below.
---------

Position Title:           Health Scientist (Informatics)
Department:             Department of Health and Human Service
Agency:                     Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Service:                     Excepted Service Position, Title 42
Duty Location:         Los Angeles, CA (1 vacancy)
Duration:                   2-Year Term Position
Salary Range:          $85,000 - $101,035


INTRODUCTION

This position is a scientific position, with an emphasis on public health informatics.  This is a standard position and can be located in various Centers/Institutes/Offices throughout CDC/ATSDR.  The primary purpose of the position is to develop scientific policies for public health informatics and to perform a variety of activities and analyses related to health care informatics.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Develops and implements scientific policies and procedures on informatics practices and principles.  Provides leadership in designing, coordinating, and maintaining information technology (IT) project goals, objectives, and priorities within a CIO and/or CDC/ATSDR and in the general public health community.  Serves as a nationally and internationally recognized expert, providing scientific advice and consultation on solutions to critical problems that require outstanding creativeness in generating new hypotheses, approaches, and standards to be used within the applicable CIO, across CDC/ATSDR and in some instances to be used internationally.  Develops and coordinates the sharing of health related informational materials so that scientific advice and assistance is shared. Develops strategies to meet short and long-range goals for the applicable program and assures that strategies reflect most promising directions in research, preventive, and clinical approaches as it relates to public health informatics.  Applies new methods, approaches, and technology to new and unusual situations and these methods have broad applications in the field.  Collaborates and provides expert scientific advice to a variety of nation-wide and international organizations to synthesize, develop and implement informatics policies and directions for future development.  Collaborates with and provides expert advice to all organizational levels with the agency, as well as with various state health agencies, and partner organizations.  50%

Provides leadership in the development, testing, implementation and evaluation of scientific information technology and information systems needs and applicable software systems relating to public health informatics within the area of responsibility.  Explores alternatives, suggestions and approaches from internal and external partners, focusing on data acquisition/multi-jurisdictional databases, communication directories, and standardization codes.  Plans and develops strategies for new models of health information interchange and automation in medicine and public health.  Responsible for evaluating and developing approaches for strengthening the standardization and utility of national health information systems, their products, policies and processes, with special emphasis on electronic data interchange and electronic media.  Promotes the development, use and dissemination of information and information technology in regards to health data systems, with an emphasis on public health applications.    50%

Performs other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

Specialized experience is experience which is directly related to the position which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) to successfully perform the duties of the position to include:  (1) provide scientific advice, consultation and leadership in designing, coordinating and maintaining public health informatics project; (2) conduct evaluations and analyses for the purposes of developing recommendations to leadership on issues related to public health informatics; (3) design, oversee, implement, and conduct scientific surveys/studies or projects to identify and solve health system related problems; and (4) manage projects through administrative, planning, and budgetary activities.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):
  • Knowledge of public health theories, principles, concepts.
  • Ability to provide scientific advice, consultation and leadership in designing, coordinating and maintaining public health informatics, more specifically Health IT related project goals, objectives and priorities.
  • Ability to communicate to various audiences and subject matter experts on scientific and technical information.
  • Skill in the application of administrative, planning, budgetary, human resources management, contracting and related programs.
  • Ability to design, oversee, implement, and conduct scientific surveys/studies or projects to identify and solve health system related problems.
  • Ability to communicate in writing. 
All interested applicants should email their resume to Tracie Strength:
With a subject line of: Health Scientist, LA County
Resumes will be accepted through March 12, 2013


26 February 2013

Request for Proposals: Pilot Project for Public Health Case Reporting Using C-CDA

National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO)  along with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) announce a funding opportunity for state and local health departments to participate in a pilot project for the implementation of public health case reporting from electronic health records (EHR) to public health agencies using Consolidated Clinical Data Architecture (C-CDA).


CDC and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) Standards and Interoperability (S&I) Framework, Public Health Reporting Initiative (PHRI) are working to reduce the reporting burden on healthcare providers and public health agencies by harmonizing data elements across public health domains and developing a standardized data structure through the implementation of C-CDA. The PHRI has produced two work products: a set of harmonized data elements and a C-CDA library of templates for several public health conditions, which will be tested and demonstrated at pilot site(s). This pilot will help determine if and how the PHRI products can serve as resources to facilitate implementation of public health case reporting from clinical providers to public health agencies.  



If interested, please submit an application to Monica Huang mhuang@cste.org at the CSTE National Office by Friday, March 15, 2013.

Please click here for additional background information and instructions (pdf) »

11 February 2013

IEEE Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI) 2013

Call for Papers and Workshop Proposals

June 4-7, 2013, Seattle, WA, USA
THEME: Big Data, Emergent Threats and Decision-Making in Security Informatics
HOST: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Conference website: http://ISIconference2013.org/

Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI) research is an interdisciplinary research field involving academic researchers in information technologies, computer science, public policy, bioinformatics, and social and behavior studies as well as local, state, and federal law enforcement and intelligence experts, and information technology industry consultants and practitioners to support counterterrorism and homeland security missions of anticipation, interdiction, prevention, preparedness and response to terrorist acts. The annual IEEE International ISI Conference series was started in 2003. Meetings have been held in Tucson, AZ (twice); Atlanta, GA; San Diego, CA; New Brunswick, NJ; Taipei, Taiwan; Dallas, TX; Vancouver, Canada; and Beijing, China, and Washington D.C. Proceedings of these ISI meetings and workshops have been published by the IEEE Press and in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series.

ISI 2013 will be organized in three main streams focusing on
  • Big Data in Security Informatics
  • Emergent Threats
  • Decision-Making in Security Informatics

Submissions may include systems, methodology, test-bed, modeling, evaluation, and policy papers. Research should be relevant to informatics, organization, or public policy in applications of counter-terrorism or protection of local/national/international security in the physical world or cyberspace. Topics include but are not limited to:

Big Data in Security Informatics
  • Information Sharing and Data/Text Mining Intelligence-related knowledge discovery
  • Computer or cybercrime investigations and digital forensics
  • Criminal investigative criteria and standard of procedure on Computer crime
  • Criminal data mining and network analysis
  • Forecasting crime and the impact of crime
  • Criminal/intelligence information sharing and visualization
  • Crime pattern recognition and modeling tools
  • Web-based intelligence monitoring and analysis
  • Spatial-temporal data analysis/GIS for crime analysis and security informatics
  • Deception and intent detection
  • Cyber-crime detection and analysis
  • Authorship analysis and identification
  • Applications of digital library technologies in intelligence data processing, preservation, sharing, and analysis
  • Agents and collaborative systems for intelligence sharing
  • HCI and user interfaces of relevance to intelligence and security
  • Information sharing policy and governance
  • Privacy, security, and civil liberties issues
  • Intelligence-computerized community security and surveillance system

Emergent Threats
  • Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Responses
  • Cyber-Physical-Social system security and incident management
  • Cyber-infrastructure design and protection
  • Intrusion detection
  • Bio-terrorism tracking, alerting, and analysis
  • Bio-terrorism information infrastructure
  • Transportation and communication infrastructure protection
  • Border/transportation safety
  • Law Enforcement decision support systems
  • Emergency response and management
  • Disaster prevention, detection, and management
  • Communication and decision support for search and rescue
  • Assisting citizens' responses to terrorism and catastrophic events
  • Computer forensics and crime lead discovery
  • Anti-fraud information technology
  • Terrorism Informatics
  • Terrorism related analytical methodologies and software tools
  • Terrorism knowledge portals and databases
  • Terrorist incident chronology databases
  • Terrorism root cause analysis
  • Social network analysis (radicalization, recruitment, conducting operations), visualization, and simulation
  • Forecasting terrorism
  • Countering terrorism
  • Measuring the impact of terrorism on society
  • Measuring the effectiveness of counter-terrorism campaigns
  • Crime intelligence and cyberspace crime investigation
  • Immigration and security

Decision-Making in Security Informatics
  • Enterprise Risk Management and Information Systems Security
  • Information security management standards
  • Information systems security policies
  • Behavior issues in information systems security
  • Fraud detection
  • Cybercrime and social impacts
  • Corporate going concerns and risks
  • Accounting and IT auditing
  • Corporate governance and monitoring
  • Board activism and influence
  • Corporate sentiment surveillance
  • Market influence analytics and media intelligence
  • Consumer-generated media and social media analytics

IMPORTANT DATES
  • Paper submission due date: March 11, 2013 (Extended from February 15, 2013)
  • Notification of acceptance: April 8, 2013
  • Due date for Workshop proposals: February 18, 2013

PAPER SUBMISSION
Submission file formats are PDF and Microsoft Word. Required Word/LaTeX templates (IEEE two-column format) can be found at the conference Web site. Long (6,000 words, 6 pages max) and short (3000 words, 3 pages max.) Papers in English must be submitted electronically via the conference Web site. The accepted papers from ISI 2013 and its affiliated workshops will be published by the IEEE Press in formal Proceedings. IEEE ISI Proceedings are EI-indexed. Authors who wish to present a poster and/or demo may submit a 1-page extended abstract, which, if selected, will appear in Proceedings. The selected IEEE ISI 2013 best papers will be invited for contribution to the Springer Security Informatics journal. The deadline for paper submissions is February 15, 2013. Paper submission instructions and template information can be found at on the Submissions page at https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ieeeisi2013.

Best papers awards will be given in three categories:
  • Best paper
  • Runner-up paper
  • Best student paper
  • Runner-up student paper.

WORKSHOPS
In conjunction with ISI 2013, several workshops will be held on June 4, 2013.Special-topic workshops in any areas of Intelligence and Security Informatics research and practice are welcome. Such events will be an integral part of the ISI-2013 conference program. Proposals in PDF or Microsoft Word not exceeding 3 pages should be emailed to the conference organizing committee at antonio@pnnl.gov by February 18, 2012 and contain the following information.
  • Title of tutorial/workshop
  • Preferred duration (half day vs. full day)
  • Brief bios of proposed instructor(s)/organizer(s)
  • Objectives to be achieved
  • Scope of topics to be covered
  • Target audience and the list of potential presenters/contributors

04 February 2013

AMIA - Public Health Informatics Workgroup Webinar Series


Public Health Informatics Workgroup Webinar Series

AMIA and the AMIA Public Health Informatics Work Group are planning a series of webinars on timely issues in public health and population health informatics. The webinars will include information from relevant experts and an opportunity for questions and interaction with all participants. These webinars are open to both AMIA members and non-AMIA members for no charge. 

The Data and Informatics Needs of the Recent Meningitis Events
Date – February 12, 2013
Time – 12:00 Noon EST

At least 44 people have died and more than 678 people in 19 states have become ill from fungal meningitis, epidural abscesses, and other infections after receiving contaminated steroid shots made by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts.   Public health response to these events required coordination among multiple Federal and State organizations, recommendations for the management of possible and confirmed cases and strong patient and physician communications. This webinar will focus on data and informatics needs of this event and what capabilities could facilitate similar responses in the future.

Speakers:
Janet J Hamilton, MPH
Disease Control and Health Protection
Bureau of Epidemiology
Florida Department of Health

Marion Kainer, MD MPH FRACP

Director, Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program
Tennessee Department of Health

J. Todd Weber, MD
Incident Manager, CDC Response to Multistate Outbreak of Fungal Meningitis and Other Infections 
Chief, Prevention and Response Branch
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, NCEZID
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


To participate – Register beforehand at: 
https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/526283406


AMIA aims to lead the way in transforming health care through trusted science, education, and the practice of informatics. AMIA connects a broad community of professionals and students interested in informatics. AMIA is the bridge for knowledge and collaboration across a continuum, from basic and applied research to the consumer and public health arenas. One of the five domains supported by AMIA is the Public Health Informatics Working Group. Public Health Informatics is the application of informatics in areas of public health, including surveillance, reporting, and health promotion.