On innovation in public health across government, industry, and academia

Pradeep S. B. Podila*, Geoffrey Bocobo* and Stefan Lukianov*

Edited by Soumya Kannan

Interview | Aug. 29 2022

*Emails: pradeep.podila@gmail.com, geoff@med-six.com, stefan.lukianov@salvetx.com

DOI: 10.38105/spr.rso4nsyk5u

Introduction

MIT SPR spoke with three researchers in public health to understand their perspectives on how public health crises (COVID-19, for example) affect innovation in methods and practices across government, academia, and industry.

First, Pradeep Podila spoke with Melvin Crum, a computer scientist practicing informatics at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). His focus is on the systematic application of information/data/computer science and information technology to public health practice, research, and learning. He has over 30 years of experience working at the CDC and currently serves as the Program Manager for Data Modernization Initiative (DMI) at the Office of Deputy Director for Public Health Science and Surveillance (DDPHSS), where his work is focused on advancing and coordinating the DMI and IT & Data Governance efforts across the agency. Prior to this, he served in the capacity of Chief – Applications & Infrastructure Development and Engineering (AIDE) Team with the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) and Chief Informatics Officer for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) responsible for piloting innovative ways to collect, manage, process, analyze, visualize and disseminate data in various formats, structures and sizes. In 2020, he was deployed in Washington, DC and worked at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the direct data capture of hospital COVID data.

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Pradeep S. B. Podila

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA

Geoffrey Bocobo

Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY

Stefan Lukianov

Salve Therapeutics Inc.