SIIM Research Grant Provides Continuing Opportunities For Inaugural Recipient 2011 Grant Application Deadline: August 2, 2010
Wyatt M. Tellis, PhD, an informaticist and research scientist at the University of California San Francisco, is still reaping the benefits of the SIIM research grant he was awarded in 2003.
Tellis was awarded the society's first research grant, "Improving ED and Radiology Interdepartmental Communications Through the Application of Mobile Computing Technologies." This grant funded his dissertation project to explore the use of PDAs to deliver radiology devices at the point of care. When someone is admitted to the ER and the physician needs results right away, the radiologist can enter "wet reads" (preliminary findings) into the PACS and they are delivered to the PDA.
"Receiving the grant was an important moment in my career," Tellis said."It gave me both the resources I needed to pursue my dissertation project and a validation of the work I was doing."
After the SIIM grant, he applied for an NLM fellowship for additional funding for the project, as there were 2 years of the project left after the 1-year SIIM grant.
Drs. Katherine Andriole, David Avrin, and Ron Arenson, all SIIM Fellows, have served as mentors in his career. "They each provided a great deal of insight into the field.What drew me to them was that they also had a very pragmatic side and were always looking for ways to convert theory into practice," Tellis said. "It was very fulfilling to see a project you worked on used by tens or hundreds of users within the institution."
This year, Dr. Tellis was elected a director-at-large to the SIIM Board. He sees assuming this position as both an honor and a way to give back to the society. "I'm honored to have been nominated for a position on the SIIM board and I am very grateful to the society for the opportunities they have provided me," he said.
Dr. Andriole commented on watching Dr. Tellis go from a student to a SIIM Board Member: "I think it's rewarding - that's how it should be. You try to teach and mentor someone - you see them grow, their career matures, and then they contribute back to the society." She said, "It's a good investment for SIIM to help young people in the field to get a start and do research - it pays back," as can be seen with Dr. Tellis, who did just that.
Dr. Tellis suggests the next generation of imaging informaticists join the SIIM mentoring network and to apply for a SIIM grant to gain learning experience, develop their career, and advance the field of imaging informatics.
"Over the years we have amassed a vast array of experts with decades of practical imaging informatics experience. We need to make this expertise available to other imaging domains so they don't make some of the same mistakes."
Since its inception in 2003, SIIM has awarded a total of 16 grants. Complete details on the SIIM grant program, including prior grant recipients and the results of their work as presented at the SIIM annual meeting, is available on the SIIM website at www.siimweb.org/grants.
Applications for 2011 are due August 2, 2010. For more information, visit: www.siimweb.org/grants
About SIIM
The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) is proud to be the leading health care professional organization representing interests and goals of those who work with, and whose work is affected by, the rapidly changing world of information and imaging technologies. SIIM seeks to spearhead research, education, and discovery of innovative solutions, and to explore new technologies and applications to improve the delivery of medical imaging services and the quality and safety of patient care. For more information, visit: www.siimweb.org.
SOURCE: University of California