Jeannie Irwin, MS

• Currently: enrolled in Dental Informatics PhD program
• 8/2002 - 4/2006: Master's Degree in Biomedical Informatics
• Publications (links to PubMed)
• Curriculum Vitae
• Personal Statement: "Before I entered the program, I was a Network Administrator at the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Public Health. I decided to pursue the Masters/PhD in Biomedical Informatics because it was the best way to combine my biology undergraduate degree with my computer-related interests. This program has given me a great sense of accomplishment via my coursework and research. I've also been fortunate to have multiple career and personal opportunities become available solely because of my work in the program."
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Miguel Humberto Torres-Urquidy, DDS, MS

• Currently: enrolled in Dental Informatics PhD program
• 1/2003-12/2004: Master's Degree in Biomedical Informatics
• Publications (links to PubMed)
• Curriculum Vitae
• Community of Science Profile
• Personal Statement: "I worked part time as assistant to the Dean at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, as an IT consultant for private companies (within and outside healthcare) and part time in private practice. I joined the program because (1) Pitt had the most advanced training program in its class; (2) the program could accommodate my set of skills and still provide further development opportunities; and (3) people at Pitt understand how informatics will reshape healthcare and dentistry in particular. Pitt's program gave me the opportunity to expand my views and understand the far reaching consequences that our prototypes today will have on healthcare in the future."
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Teena Wali, BDS

• Currently: enrolled in Dental Informatics Master's program
• Curriculum Vitae
• Personal Statement:"Training in dental informatics to me is an exciting prospect. While I have the option of being a dental clinician, I have chosen to study this field which although is new to me but is full of exciting possibilities. Not only am I excited at the prospect of learning this science but also at the possibility of contributing towards the development of projects which might be of help to my dental colleagues. My initial resistance to the use of this modality, I must admit, has been replaced by an increasing curiosity to explore the possibilities. If I am able to achieve something which will enhance the working efficiency of dental system, it will be my 2 cents of contribution to this field of science that I have come to love."
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Patricia Corby, DDS, MS

• Currently: Assistant Director, Bluestone Center for Clinical Research
  Assistant Professor, Department of Periodontics & Implants, New York University, College of Dentistry
• 8/2002-8/2005: Master's Degree in Biomedical Informatics
• Publications (links to PubMed)
• Personal Statement: "For many years now, I have been working with research in all aspects from basic science to clinical research. My limitation in dealing with many research tasks was the lack in knowledge and skills related to efficiently managing the enormous amount of information gathered during each aspect of research projects. The training program exposed me to a broad biomedical Informatics curriculum encompassing medical information access and retrieval, medical databases, decision support systems, and computational medicine. This training was so far the most valuable contribution to my carrier development. I truly believe that Informatics for Clinical Research is fundamental to translation of basic research to medically useful interventions. "

Pedro L. Hernández-Cott, DMD, MS

• Currently: Assistant Professor, Deanship of Research, University of Puerto Rico School of Dentistry
• 7/2003-8/2005: Master's Degree in Biomedical Informatics
• Publications (links to PubMed)
• Curriculum Vitae
• Personal Statement: "After 20 years as a general dentist with an interest in computers this was an excellent program for me in making the transition in to academia. This is an outstanding program for exposing healthcare professionals, academicians and researchers in how technology is changing and will be used in healthcare for the future. Moreover, it was an opportunity for me to interact with individuals from other ethnic and professional groups. We all gained new knowledge not only on informatics but also personal experiences in cultural awareness, thus developing our own team in 'dental informatics.' My areas of interest are oral health disparities, heavy metals, caries, and also includes serving as an examiner for a study on 'Clinical validation of combined ICDAS/QLF exam for early caries detection.'"

Raj K. Krishnaraju PhD, MS

• Currently: Health Scientist Administrator, NIH
• 9/2000-9/2002: Master's Degree in Biomedical Informatics
• Publications (links to PubMed)
• Personal Statement: "Currently, I am working as a Health Scientist Administrator at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. My areas of interest are bioinformatics and molecular biology of cell differentiation."

Thankam Paul Thyvalikakath, MDS, MS

• Currently: Assistant professor, Center for Dental Informatics
  Department of Dental Public Health/ Information Management
• 7/2003-4/2006: Master's Degree in Biomedical Informatics
• 7/2005-present: Clinical Research Scholar (8K12 RR 023267), NIH Roadmap/NCRR, University of Pittsburgh Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Career Development Award
• Publications (links to PubMed)
• Personal Statement: "I was a clinician working full-time before joining the program. My experience as an oral surgeon made me aware of the need and potential of clinical decision support tools that can improve the quality of patient care and outcomes. The knowledge I gained through the program gave me the confidence and knowledge to design and conduct research in the field
  of informatics with impact in the field of clinical dentistry."

Joe Rauch, DDS

• Currently: private practice
• Curriculum Vitae (updated 2/7/2008)
• Personal Statement: "I graduated in 1983 from of the University of Iowa and practiced in a variety of settings including public health, private practice, and tertiary hospital care. I had been looking at public health or dental public health for a career shift when I discovered the Dental Informatics program at the University of Pittsburgh.
  Informatics is a perfect fit for me. It allows me to leverage my interest in computers and technology with many years of clinical experience. I believe that dentistry will come to rely more and more on informatics, and I plan to help dentists to take full advantage of it."

Amit Acharya, BDS, MS

• Currently: Visiting Scholar at the Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh and enrolled in Biomedical Informatics PhD program at University of Medicine and Dentistry at New Jersey
• 8/2001-12/2004: Master's Degree in Computer Science
• Community of Science Profile
• Personal Statement: "After being professionally trained as a dentist and a computer scientist, I chose to develop expertise in the field of biomedical informatics to deal with the several ongoing challenges that healthcare is facing. The Center for Dental Informatics (CDI) provided an excellent opportunity for me to further my research knowledge and apply it to the field of dental and medical informatics. In my current role as a visiting scholar at the center, apart from working on my dissertation with Dr. Schleyer as my advisor, I have also been responsible for various projects conducted at CDI related to data and information modeling, clinical database design, clinical systems design and architecture. Following a formal training in grant writing, I have co-authored an R21 grant application recently and have been involved in preparation and review of scientific manuscripts. I have progressively developed an interest in design and architecture of electronic health records, clinical decision support and expert systems, information modeling and terminologies, evidence based practices and knowledge representation. I am impressed by the work being carried out at CDI and very excited to be a part of it."
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André Correia, DMD

• Currently: Lecturer in Dental Informatics, School of Dental Medicine, Portuguese Catholic University
• Curriculum Vitae
• Personal Statement: "With dental informatics, I have combined my clinical practice as a dentist with my favorite hobby, informatics. Since my studies at Porto Dental School, dental informatics has always been a part of my research and clinical practice. The Portuguese Catholic University gave me the opportunity to teach dental informatics and the Porto Dental School supported my PhD studies with CAD-CAM systems. These two endeavors made it possible to establish a cooperation with the Center for Dental Informatics in the University of Pittsburgh. Under Dr. Schleyer's and Dr. Spallek's mentorship, I have completed a research program at the CDI which enhanced my skills in dental informatics and helped me start the implementation of CDI projects in Portuguese-speaking countries."

Papavramidis Efthymios, DDS

• Currently: Trainee Orthodontics Department - University Clinic Kiel, Germany
• Personal Statement: "I have been following computer-related technologies closely for more than 15 years and have been involved in various projects. It comes natural to me to find ways to utilize innovative technologies in my work as a dentist. At the Center for Dental Informatics, I found people with passion for their work who really inspired me. I had the chance to meet top-notch researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. My work in the Center's 3D visualization project was a fulfilling and rewarding experience."