CIRSS Seminar: Ian Brooks & Jacob Jett

Ian Brooks, director of the Center for Health Informatics and iSchool research scientist, and Jacob Jett, iSchool postdoctoral research fellow, will give the talk, "The Center for Health Informatics, WHO, and COVID-19."

Abstract: The Center for Health Informatics is currently working on more than a dozen projects related to COVID-19 with WHO, the Pan American Health Organization, Mayo Clinic, CUPHD, and other organizations.  This talk will give an overview of some of these projects including social media research into the Infodemic; development of a number of WHO/PAHO factsheets and data science standard operating procedures (SOPs); an investigation of "MacGyverCare"; and others. We will also briefly discuss some as yet unmet requests for help from WHO and CUPHD and a new project, CHIME in Illinois, that we hope will help us meet these needs.

Ian Brooks' research focuses on the use of data from traditional and non-traditional sources to understand population health and support public health decision makers. Previously, Brooks was the Director of Health Sciences at NCSA, co-director of the bioinformatics core of the UIC Center for Translational Science, and a member of the CDC external advisory committee for high-performance computing.

Jacob Jett's research is primarily focused on information modeling issues with a special focus on ontology, controlled vocabulary, and schema development for Semantic Web infrastructure. He uses a combination of formal conceptual analysis approaches to analyze and organize digital information systems such as databases, repositories, and digital libraries. Jett earned his PhD in library and information science here at the iSchool, where he also completed his Masters and Certificate of Advanced Studies work.

Questions? Contact Janet Eke