Boston, Mass. – March 21st – Brigham and Women’s
Hospital resident Omar Badri, M.D. and Boston University School of Medicine
student Kevin Wong are this year’s winners of the Massachusetts Medical
Society’s Information Technology Awards.
The awards recognize the development of an
information technology tool that helps physicians practice medicine, teach
medicine, or pursue clinical research. Two awards of $3,000 each are presented
annually by the Massachusetts Medical Society, one to a medical student and one
to a resident or fellow. This year’s
winners and their projects:
Omar Badri, M.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Dr. Badri developed an automated
patient support and monitoring tool that delivers precisely timed text-message
and/or email-based video or print reminders to patients for a variety of
purposes, such as preparations for a procedure or discharge. The program delivers check-in questions
related to patient progress and can flag those patients at-risk of
non-compliance for appropriate outreach. It can be customized for any practice or
institution, and the software removes technical barriers, as it does not
require an app download or EHR integration.
Dr. Badri is a fourth-year resident in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and in dermatology at the Harvard Combined Dermatology Residency Training program. He completed his undergraduate studies in economics at Arizona State University and graduated with an M.D. from Harvard University where he was awarded the Thayer Award for outstanding academic achievement.
While at
Harvard, he co-managed a grant from The Commonwealth Fund to improve health
policy education at medical schools across the country. His passion is to
improve patient experience through interactive web-based learning modalities by
implementing technologies created at Medumo, a technology company he
co-founded, which won the Massachusetts Health Challenge. During his time in
residency, Dr. Badri has won two Brigham and Women’s Hospital i-Hub innovation
challenges, a Martin Solomon Primary Care Innovation Scholarship, and a Brigham
Care Redesign Incubator and Startup Program grant to implement decision support
at the point of order.
Kevin Wong, Boston University School of Medicine
Mr.
Wong’s program centers on augmented reality (AR), combining real-world
environments with computer-generated sounds, text, and graphics. While current applications focus on consumer
products and video games, such navigation systems have potential for use in
medical education.
Using game developer software, Mr. Wong programmed 3D
anatomic models into a “game environment,” which was then projected into
augmented reality. Both computer-generated anatomic models and real patient
anatomy derived from computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
can be displayed in this manner. The
results of Mr. Wong’s work demonstrate that 3D anatomic models can be
successfully programmed onto smartphone-based augmented reality and that
augmented reality has potential for use in medical education. Future
applications for this technology include diagnosis, surgical planning, and
procedural simulations.
Mr. Wong was born and raised on Long Island, N.Y. His career choice in otolaryngology stems from his interest in hearing implants. As a hobby, Mr. Wong explores augmented reality and saw its potential for use in medical education while dissecting anatomy. He realized AR could allow students to visualize human structures beyond the limited views of traditional pictures. Beyond AR, Mr. Wong also has a passion for research and has published over a dozen peer-reviewed papers. He also coordinates the Mass. Eye and Ear auditory brainstem implant FDA trials.
The
Massachusetts Medical Society, with some 25,000 physicians and student members,
is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of
Massachusetts. The Society, under the auspices of NEJM Group, publishes the New
England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and
Journal Watch alerts and newsletters covering 13 specialties. The Society is
also a leader in continuing medical education providing accredited and
certified activities across the globe for physicians and other health care
professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is
the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. For more
information please visit www.massmed.org, www.nejm.org, or www.jwatch.org.
