The Federal Cyber Service Scholarship for Service Scholarship Program currently supported by NSF at the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute (JHUISI) is developing information and computer security professionals who are prepared to address the increasingly critical field of public health. All JHUISI students currently supported by the NSF SFS cohort program are pursuing a Master of Science in Security Informatics (MSSI) degree with requirements which include information security and assurance (IS&A) courses and courses in health-related privacy, policy, law, and informatics. To accomplish this, the JHUISI MSSI program based in the Whiting School of Engineering (WSE) has developed collaborations with the JHU Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH).
This project is expanding current capabilities for providing professionals prepared to address the future public health applications of information security and assurance by developing a unique two-year dual masters program in which students are earning both the MSSI degree offered by JHUISI and the Master of Health Sciences (MHS) degree offered by BSPH.
Intellectual Merit: The dual MSSI/MHS masters program is integrating courses (both new and existing), labs, research projects, and internships from the two different academic cultures within the WSE and the BSPH at Johns Hopkins to produce individuals trained to meet the demand for information assurance professionals in public health. The relevance and importance of this activity is being repeatedly underscored at the highest levels of the public health infrastructure by mandates to deliver consumer- centric and information-rich health care. The need for individuals appropriately trained to play key roles within public health federal agencies to achieve this goal is acute.
Broader Impact: The application of IS&A technologies to public health issues is in its infancy, analogous to where biomedical applications stood decades ago. The underlying challenges result from the necessary mergers of information technology with privacy, policy, and law. The dual MSSI/MHS masters program is creating a blueprint for addressing this important direction for health related information IS&A education and research.
