Austin, Michalowski named AMIA fellows

University of Minnesota School of Nursing Assistant Professors Robin Austin and Martin Michalowski were named Fellows of American Medical Informatics Association (FAMIA).

FAMIA recognizes professionals who apply informatics skills and knowledge towards the goals of enhanced personal and population health, improved organizational performance and learning, and individual empowerment in their health, care, and research.

Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC, FAMIA, has more than 20 years of clinical health care experience and has translated this experience to focus on patient-centered research. Through her research, Austin seeks to empower individuals through the use of technology and include their voice in person-centered care.

She is a recipient of a Clinical and Translational Science Institute COVID-19 Rapid Response grant to explore community strengths, challenges, and needs during the pandemic using a virtual community outreach strategy and is the recipient of the 2020 Midwest Nursing Research Society Health Systems, Policy, and Informatics Research Interest Group Dissertation Award. She recently presented at the Office of the National Coordinator Advancing Interoperability: Social Determinants of Health workshop to present the use of the application MyStrengths+MyHealth to collect social determinants of health and resilience data from individuals and the community.

Michalowski, PhD, FAMIA, has over 12 years of health informatics experience applying his expertise in artificial intelligence, specifically automated reasoning, to improve the outcomes of multi-morbid patients through the design of clinical decision support methodologies and the use of technology-enabled interventions.

He was most recently awarded Senior Member status in the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and served as co-chair of the 2020 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. He is also currently an associate editor for the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research special issue titled AI and COVID-19.

“I’m delighted to welcome our third class of AMIA fellows,” said Patricia C. Dykes, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, AMIA board chair and program director of Research at the Brigham and Women’s Center for Patient Safety, Research, and Practice. “The FAMIA credential recognizes the successes of applied informatics professionals. The clinical informatics community continues to grow each year, and I am proud that these individuals have chosen AMIA to be their professional home.”

In addition to Austin and Michalowski, School of Nursing faculty who are Fellows of American Medical Informatics Association include Professor Karen Monsen, Assistant Professor Lisiane Pruinelli and Clinical Associate Professor Sripriya Rajamani. Dean Connie White Delaney is a Fellow in the College of Medical Informatics.

A formal induction ceremony will be held at the AMIA 2021 Virtual Clinical Informatics Conference May 18-20.