Jacko to Lead U's New Health Informatics Institute
(Dec. 11, 2007) -- Julie A. Jacko, Ph.D., has been named director of the Institute for Health Informatics at the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center. The institute was developed as a new interdisciplinary program to improve the quality and efficiency of health care and clinical research through research and education in health informatics.
"This institute is critical to the University of Minnesota's commitment to improving health care through more effective and efficient use of health informatics across disciplines," said Frank B. Cerra, M.D., senior vice president for Health Sciences. "Dr. Jacko's extensive experience in this field will be crucial to the success of the center and its ability to facilitate collaboration, propel creativity, and inspire breakthrough discoveries across the schools of the Academic Health Center."
Jacko also holds appointments as professor in the School of Nursing and in the School of Public Health Division of Environmental Health Sciences. Prior to coming to Minnesota, she was a professor of biomedical engineering with a joint appointment as professor of interactive computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Emory University School of Medicine. She served as the director of research for the Health Systems Institute and also directed the Center for Interactive Systems Engineering within the Health Systems Institute.
"Dr. Jacko adds extraordinary senior depth to informatics research and preparation of informaticians within the School of Nursing," said Dean Connie Delaney. "Her research trajectory focused on human-computer interface is particularly significant to building nursing science. Her research on diversity, sensatory and perceptual impairments, and user-centered interfaces with computers has remarkable synergy with our school's nationally recognized areas of excellence in children with special healthcare needs, gerontology, and informatics. We also celebrate Dr. Jacko's commitment to inter-professional synergy, which aligns with the priorities of the school and the Academic Health Center," she added.
Jacko's research accomplishments span the fields of human-computer interaction, health informatics, technological aspects of health care delivery, and universal access to electronic information technologies. She is internationally recognized for her contributions to applications and theory development related to human aspects of personal, mobile, and networked computing, as well as her landmark contributions advancing technology access for people with visual impairments. Jacko received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for her research entitled, "Universal Access to the Graphical User Interface: Design For The Partially Sighted," and the National Science Foundation's Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, which is the highest honor bestowed on young scientists and engineers by the United States government.
An author of more than 120 research publications, including journal articles, books, book chapters, and conference proceedings, Jacko is also is co-editor of the book, Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies, and Emerging Applications, editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, and associate editor for the International Journal of Human Computer Studies. In 2006, Jacko was elected to a three-year term as president of the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction. She routinely provides expert consultancy for organizations and corporations on systems usability and accessibility, emphasizing human aspects of interactive systems design. She received her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in industrial engineering from Purdue University.
"The informatics initiatives at the University of Minnesota, and the health informatics initiative in particular, are emerging at the forefront of this rapidly developing scientific field," Jacko said. "I am privileged to be joining the exceptional leadership in the Academic Health Center and am looking forward to working with the many talents from different disciplines at the University to further develop this new area of excellence within the Academic Health Center," she said.