Scifoo: A visit to the Navigenics HQ July 20, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in About me, genetics, Navigenics, Scifoo.8 comments
Last weekend, I attended the fantastic Scifoo unconference at the Googleplex (see the Flickr images of Duncan Hull), but one day before the event, I was invited to visit the HQ of Navigenics, one of the most famous direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies. As I just started PhD in the field of personalized genetics and had my genome analyzed by them, I felt like a kid in a candy shop and asked them many questions.
So on Friday, I took the Caltrain and went to Redwood City. Then Julie Lyons drove me to Navigenics HQ.
Here is the official sign of the company.
For some reason, I thought the HQ would be different from an ordinary office, but I realized that’s the only way they can co-ordinate almost 50 people. Genetic counselors, medical doctors, PR people, scientists and the employees reponsible for the online presence of Navigenics. See the Twitter account.
And believe me, being a medical advisor at such a company must be a dream job.
It was a great experience for me to see how such a company operates and I was pleased to see how they treat bloggers and their Twitter followers. More about the topic this week on Scienceroll…
TEDTalks: Better way to Harvest Bone Marrow July 19, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Medicine, Ted Talks, Video.add a comment
Daniel Kraft presented a better way to harvest bone marrow in a TED talk.
2009 World Technology Award Winners: Health and Medicine July 19, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Healthcare, Innovation.2 comments
I just came across the finalists and award winners ofthe 2009 World Technology Award.
These Award winners and finalists are those individuals (in 20 categories) and companies/organizations (in 10 categories) who are — in the opinion of the WTN Fellows and Founding Members, through Awards voting process — doing the innovative work of “the greatest likely long-term significance” in their fields. They are those creating the 21st century.
These results were announced from the stage at the gala World Technology Awards ceremony on July 16th at the Time & Life Building in NYC at the conclusion of the two-day (July 15/16) World Technology Summit.”
Here are the winners and finalists of the Health & Medicine category.
(individual)
WINNER
Christofer Toumazou, Imperial College London
Professor Toumazou has made outstanding contributions to the fields of low power analogue circuit design and current mode circuits and systems for radio frequency and biomedical applications. Through his extensive record of research he has invented innovative electronic devices ranging dual mode cellular phones to ultra-low power devices for both medical diagnosis and therapy. Toumazou was made a Professor at Imperial College at 33, one of the youngest ever, in recognition of his outstanding research.
FINALISTS
Federico Capasso and Ken Crozier, Harvard University
Elizabeth Goldring, Yifei Wu, Quinn Smithwick and Brandon Taylor, MIT
Jeremiah D. Jackson, Kleinfelder, Inc.
John McDevitt, McDevitt Labs
Volkmar Weissig, Midwestern University
(corporate)
WINNER
Mayo Clinic: One of the best examples how a healthcare institute should embrace social media.
FINALISTS
Banyan Biomarkers, Inc.
Cameron Health, Inc.
Masimo
The Smile Train
Vidacare Corporation
A Modern Hospital Website July 16, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Health 2.0, Hospital, Medicine, Web 2.0.1 comment so far
John D. Halamka is an exceptional health blogger and Chief Information Officer and Dean for Technology at Harvard Medical School. He just blogged about the new website of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. I know I always use Mayo Clinic as a perfect example about how to create a proper web 2.0 coverage for a hospital, but this one is another good example.
Halamka blogged about the features as well:
- Blogs – Uses a SiteCore provided blogging module
- Chat – a commercial application called Cute Chat from CuteSoft.
- BIDMC TV (news and information videos produced by BIDMC)- Hosted by BrightCove.
- Medical Edge (videos about innovation produced by BIDMC)- Hosted by BrightCove.
- Podcast Gallery – Hosted on BIDMC servers.
- Health Quizzes – created using a commercial application called SelectSurvey.NET from ClassApps.
- Social Networking – entirely hosted by outside service providers (Facebook/Twitter/You Tube).
- Secure patient web pages for communication with their families – a commercial application provided by CarePages.
- Conditions A-Z – a web-based encyclopedia branded for BIDMC using commercial reference provided by Ebsco.
- Search Engine – We’re using a Google Appliance
Medical research experts on Wikipedia July 16, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Health, Medicine, Web 2.0, Wikipedia.6 comments
Though I haven’t been extremely busy on Wikipedia lately, I’ve been an administrator there for 3 years. I’m always glad when medical professionals come to edit articles, improve the quality and insert proper references into the medical entries. Yesterday, I saw this:
The National Institutes of Health and the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that operates the Wikipedia® online encyclopedia, are joining forces to make health and science information more accessible and reliable. This collaboration is the first of its kind for both organizations.
In these days when the number of page requests for flu or influenza is rising, it’s even more important to cover medical issues properly. From Wikimedia Blog:
Kevin Pho from Kevin, MD wrote in a recent article:
This isn’t to say patients shouldn’t research their medical conditions to become better informed. But it’s imperative that patients not rely on Wikipedia as the primary source of their health research. Websites sponsored by the government, academic medical centers, or professional medical societies all have more authoritative information that can be relied upon.
As Wikipedians always say, Wikipedia is a perfect place to start your research, but should never be the one you finish your search with.
Update: Susannah Fox shared her notes about the event on e-Patients.net.
Top Blogs on Twitter July 16, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Blogging, twitter, Web 2.0.add a comment
Technorati has been tracking the entire blogosphere for years, but trends are changing. Now the biggest information stream is on Twitter so here is Twittorati that tracks the tweets from the highest authority bloggers, starting with the entire Technorati Top 100 and soon including many more of the web’s most influential voices.
Click here to see the medicine-related tweets on Twittorati.
What’s on the Web? (16 July, 2009) July 16, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Web 2.0, What's on the web?.add a comment
In order to aid with disease diagnosis in remote places, researchers at Boston University have built a prototype pump device to separate DNA out of a sample of blood. The SNAP (System for Nucleic Acid Preparation) is powered by a bicycle-like pump and may one day make it easy for local clinicians to separate, bottle, and ship a sample to a clinic with sequencing technology for analysis.
Have you seen the Open Medicine wiki?
This project explores the use of a wiki as an online collaborative tool for improving and updating peer-reviewed systematic reviews. Readers are invited to edit the article either by adding, deleting or modifying its contents. The effort has been supported by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health (CADTH) and Open Medicine. The scoping reviews found on the Open Medicine website and the wiki are derivations of an original systematic review funded by CADTH and completed by Foresights Links.
- Medical 2.0 Index: Medical 2.0 is offering you the largest and the most comprehensive database regarding the Health 2.0 arena.
3D Radiology July 16, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in Anatomy, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Radiology, Web 2.0.add a comment
Medgadget just posted about the Flickr images of the Stanford Radiology 3D Imaging Laboratory.
I met the Swedish founder of Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV) at Scifoo last weekend. They are creating exceptional radiology images. I wish I could study anatomy with those images. It would have been much much easier.
Webicina e-Guide: How to give a remarkable slideshow? July 14, 2009
Posted by Dr. Bertalan Meskó in eHealth, Health, Health 2.0, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Slideshow, Video, Web 2.0, Webicina.add a comment
On Webicina.com, the first medical web 2.0 guidance service, I keep creating free e-guides for doctors in order to help them get closer to the web 2.0 world and make their online presence as efficient as possible. The newest free guide is How to give a remarkable slideshow? in which I provide positive and negative examples as well as new methods about creating unique presentations not just in medicine.
Please take a look at the table of contents:
Free Webicina content:
