Current research projects
Managing health in your life
The long-term objective of this research is both to understand patients' information management work and to develop new technology that will support that work. Under the direction of Wanda Pratt I am taking part in this research though field studies, surveys, and design groups with individuals touched by the breast cancer experience.Change of heart
The goal of this work is to facilitate heart-healthy lifestyle through innovative technology. Under the direction of Wanda Pratt, I am taking part in this research thorough focus groups, field studies, and surveys with individuals who are managing heart disease.
Dissertation thesis
Patients can gain significant insights for managing their personal health from others who have faced similar health situations. Yet, we know very little about the charactertistics of this experiential knowledge or how to design innovative tools to support its exchange. In my thesis, "Understanding and facilitating patient expertise sharing", I investigated what patient expertise is and how patients share this valuable resource with one another. My findings inform the design of needed tools for peer interaction among patients.
Past research projects
Keeping found things found
This project combines fieldwork with selective prototyping in an effort to understand and support personal information management. My primary work on this project compared the use of folders and tags as methods for organizing personal information. I completed this work under the direction of William Jones and Harry Bruce.Decision Theory in Radiation Oncology
The goal of this project is to enhance the decision-making process for prostate intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans by incorporating the decision-theoretic concept of influence diagrams. In my work on this project, I investigated the use of multi-attribute utility theory to incorporate patient preferences into IMRT planning decisions for prostate cancer. I worked under the direction of Mark Phillips and Jason Doctor.Graphic presentation of health risk information
The goal of this project was to investigate the effect of presentation format of health risk information on behavior of health consumers,including risk comprehension, expected utility violations, risk perception, and behavioral modification. My work spanned a systematic review of risk format effects in the health consumer population to a survey comparing expected utility violations across various probability formats. I worked with Fredric Wolf and Jason Doctor.
