(Do not exceed space provided) The long-term objectives of this fellowship are to learn skills in public health informatics and to expand this work after the fellowship period to include building and evaluating expert systems and databases for use in health care and community settings to meet public health objectives. Consequently the specific aims of the project are to: (1) receive formal training in the principles and methods of public health informatics; (2) obtain intensive hands-on training with Dr. Robert S. Gold on projects involving adapting user interfaces, database structure and management, and expert system design and evaluation; (3) develop a prototype computerized system that provides decision support, technical assistance and training capacity to primary health care providers in the area of cancer prevention; and (4) develop a research plan and identify funding for evaluating the proposed expert system. The methods that will be used to achieve these aims include completing a certificate program in Public Health Informatics (specializing in expert system design), apprenticing with Dr. Gold in the PHI Lab working on a variety of projects that are aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of health education interventions with different populations, and utilizing the infrastructure and technical support available through the PHI Lab to complete the the expert system prototype.
