MedIX: MEDical Informatics eXperiences in Undergraduate Research

The proposed REU site is in the area of Medical Informatics and will address issues related to the workflow driven acquisition of image data in an electronic medical record environment, and the subsequent post-processing of the image information to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the consumers of this information, notably radiologists. In particular, segmentation, texture analysis, classification and annotation of computed tomography (CT) images using computer vision and data mining techniques will be emphasized. Since many racial minorities are significantly underrepresented in computer science (CS) departments, the primary educational objective is to promote graduate studies for bright, talented undergraduates - especially first-generation college students and undergraduates from groups historically underrepresented in exact sciences. Furthermore, since the demand for individuals who see their career opportunities at the intersection between Medical Informatics and CS far outstrips the current supply, the second educational objective is to promote and encourage interdisciplinary undergraduate studies in computer science and medical informatics. The MedIX (MEDical Informatics eXperiences in undergraduate research) REU site will run for three summers, with eight student participants spending 10 weeks each summer doing research both at DePaul University, Intelligent Multimedia Processing Laboratory and Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Imaging Informatics Laboratory.