Two lately employed college members within the School of Nursing are losing no time making their mark at Florida State College, increasing the school’s footprint via the creation of a brand new institute targeted on the intersection of digital innovation, large information and well being care.
Lisa Hightow-Weidman and Kathryn Muessig — esteemed digital well being consultants whom FSU employed from the College of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — have created the Institute on Digital Well being and Innovation.
The institute, a part of the School of Nursing, will emphasize using digital instruments in well being schooling, messaging and therapy; encourage collaboration and innovation throughout the college and well being care business; and supply coaching for college kids and postdoctoral fellows via analysis.
Hightow-Weidman will function founding director and Muessig as founding affiliate director.
“This institute will deliver collectively and foster collaborations throughout a number of numerous teams, together with tutorial, neighborhood and business stakeholders,” Hightow-Weidman stated. “And what the institute can provide hopefully is to create an ecosystem to facilitate the development of rigorous, translational analysis targeted on fixing real-world wants of sufferers and that finally profit well being care methods and communities.”
The initiative corresponds with FSU’s progress in well being care-related analysis and teaching programs. Florida State College has been constructing out its well being analysis portfolio whereas pursuing partnerships with main well being care entities all through North Florida, together with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, HCA Florida and the Mayo Clinic.
The Institute on Digital Well being and Innovation will play a significant function in furthering these efforts whereas offering vital coaching alternatives for college kids.
“There are some nice researchers within the School of Nursing who’ve thought so much about digital applied sciences and well being schooling and the way you employ that to the good thing about sufferers,” Muessig stated.
She famous considered one of her first conversations with Jing Wang, dean of the School of Nursing and stated: “One of many issues that I actually appreciated listening to was her imaginative and prescient for coaching via analysis – hands-on experiential studying for college kids to enrich what they’re doing within the classroom.”
Hightow-Weidman started her function as a distinguished and endowed McKenzie Professor within the School of Nursing in early October. Muessig will begin her function as a School of Nursing professor on Dec. 1.
“Analysis on the Institute on Digital Well being and Innovation will promote equitable care that makes use of novel digital options, fulfilling the School of Nursing’s mission to boldly sort out challenges in how well being care staff ship one of the best care to sufferers,” Wang stated. “This initiative will even present extra coaching alternatives for college kids and can foster collaboration and innovation throughout campus to affect the whole well being care ecosystem in Florida, nationally and globally.”
Wang additionally famous the school’s concentrate on expertise to boost using human contact – she calls it the “excessive human contact” – and improve nurses’ time at sufferers’ beside.
“One well being fairness emphasis of the digital well being strategy we anchored right here at FSU is the tech-empowered excessive human contact strategy to interact not solely the rich who need superior expertise, but additionally those that lack entry to or choose the excessive human contact over tech options,” she stated. “This may significantly profit the ever-increasing retiree/growing older inhabitants within the state of Florida.”
She known as the strategy “our guideline and our lens leveraging digital well being options.”
Hightow-Weidman is an internationally famend skilled within the growth, implementation and analysis of digital well being interventions to handle the HIV Care Continuum for adolescents and younger adults. She has been on the forefront of translating evidence-based science into digital purposes, particularly via the inclusion of game-based parts, self-monitoring and monitoring and provision of help to extend engagement and affect well being conduct.
Muessig has targeted on prevention and care of HIV and different sexually transmitted infections within the U.S., China and South Africa. She develops interventions combining digital well being instruments, behavior-change methods and well being methods navigation to lower HIV transmission and enhance well being look after folks dwelling with HIV.
Collectively, they’ve garnered over $100 million in funding from the Nationwide Institutes of Well being and Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC). They goal to rapidly construct on that, together with for the Institute on Digital Well being and Innovation.
The founders touted their initiative for its promise of a team-based heart that collaborates and conjures up analysis that results in analysis, prevention and therapy of illness.
“It’s been thrilling to fulfill folks at FSU who’re working in several areas of digital well being, coming at it from completely different approaches, various kinds of applied sciences, wearable gadgets, areas that now we have been all in favour of however haven’t had the chance to collaborate and see the place that may take us,” Muessig stated.
The institute additionally will present sensible expertise to college students who might apply analysis and a digital well being strategy to careers in, for instance, well being care, public service or academia.
“Getting began in analysis will be intimidating,” Hightow-Weidman stated. “My hope for the institute can also be to create house for individuals who might need considered analysis, have an ideal thought, however perhaps aren’t certain tips on how to get began or may gain advantage from extra coaching, mentorship or networking alternatives.”
She added: “We’re actually enthusiastic about what the subsequent few years will deliver and might’t consider anywhere extra suited to launch this new endeavor than FSU.”
