US-Based Student Mentoring and Travel Support for Wireless Health 2014 Conference

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Wireless Health Conference Series is now in its fifth year and provides the highest profile academic and industrial research forum for the Wireless, Mobile and Connected Health fields. This year, the conference will be held October 29-31, 2014 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Washington, DC. Wireless and mobile health involves a broad ecosystem of researchers whose expertise spans health and health care, engineering, computer science, behavioral and social sciences, as well as businesses partners. The Wireless Health conference series is currently the only dedicated academic/research conference that brings together leaders in the field across the entirety of the interdisciplinary wireless and mobile health community. This mentoring and travel grant will support travel and lodging for 15 doctoral students to attend the Wireless Health 2014 conference. Students will attend the full Wireless Health conference, present their projects and receive feedback and individual mentoring sessions from conference attendees who are leaders in the field. The fifteen students who will be supported on this grant to attend Wireless Health 2014 will benefit from: (1) unique international experience where they associate with scientists from different countries while visiting NIH; (2) exposure to new application areas of computer science and engineering where their skills are particularly needed, for students in medicine and other areas of public health, exchanging ideas with engineers; (3) learning about new types of computational thinking when applying technologies to wireless health applications; (4) exposure to some of the latest types of devices, robots, sensors or networks, and new mobile technologies; (5) experience in giving presentations, explaining their work, and discussing with persons in other disciplines; and (7) the opportunity to discuss how to succeed in an interdisciplinary field. This award will facilitate the establishment of research and education collaborations with students and/or faculty who are members of underrepresented groups. Another main aim of this award will be mentoring a diverse group of early-career health scientists and engineers in research proposal preparation. Finally, this award will facilitate the establishment of collaborations between disciplines and institutions, among the U.S. academic institutions, industry and government and with international partners. The 5th Wireless Health Conference Series will be hosted by the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA), in conjunction with a Steering Committee comprised of leaders from the global academic and industrial research communities. More information on the conference, conference leadership, and the conference program can be found at the conference website (http://www.wirelesshealth2014.org). Foundational to the conference is the understanding that facilitating interdisciplinary communication, collaboration and cooperation among participants from academia, public health, clinical practice, government and industry is crucial to address real-world issues of the healthcare industry. Wireless Health 2014 will offer an outstanding set of peer-reviewed papers and abstracts, interactive workshops, demonstrations, and world-renowned invited speakers and facilitate formulation of future research directions and collaborative efforts in wireless health.