updated 21 September 2005
European
Center for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology
Charles University and Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic
The European Center for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology of Charles University and Academy of Sciences (EuroMISE Center) was set up in April 1994 and ceremonially opened at the occasion of the EuroMISE International Working Conference “Education and Research in Medical Informatics”, June 1st 1994.
Development of higher education facilities of the EuroMISE Center has been one of the main objectives of the Joint European Project “Education in the Methodology Field of Health Care - EuroMISE” under the TEMPUS program and development of interdisciplinary research activities has been one of the main objectives of the Joint Research Project “Managing Uncertainty in Medicine - MUM” under the COPERNICUS program.
Based on the decision of the Charles University and the Academy of Sciences, the representation of these institutions in the EuroMISE Center are headed by the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics and the Institute of Computer Science, respectively. The main targets of the EuroMISE Center of Charles University and Academy of Sciences are the following:
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1) To create and European
teaching network for higher education in medical
informatics, statistics and epidemiology, to organize and
launch graduate and postgraduate education on international
level
2) To initiate international joint research and development programs in the interdisciplinary field of medical informatics, statistics and epidemiology, to cooperate closely with health care sector
Further development of the EuroMISE Center of Charles University and Academy of Sciences is based on close cooperation with European universities, research and health organizations and enterprises. EuroMISE Center is also associated with distance education and training activities of IT Eductra project in Fourth Framework Programme.
Co-operation
The European Center for Medical Informatics, Statistics, and Epidemiology, (EuroMISE Center) of Charles University and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, was set up in 1994 with the support of the European Commission joint Teaching Laboratory of Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, and the Academy of Sciences, Institute of Computer Science. The EuroMISE Center has been developing a broad international cooperation in the field of interdisciplinary education and research with many European universities and institutes from Belgium, Bosna and Herzegovina, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and with international organizations e.g. European Federation for Medical Informatics - EFMI, International Medical Informatics Association - IMIA, and Biometric Society. There is also very tight co-operation with the five medical faculties of Charles University, and other faculties (Faculty of Natural Sciences and Faculty of Pharmacy); and with research institutes of the Academy of Sciences (Institute of Theory of Information and Automation, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Institute of Molecular Genetics). Further co-operation with hospitals, research institutes, Czech universities, and scientific societies (Czech Medical Society J.E. Purkyně, Society for Cybernetics and Informatics of the Academy of Sciences) has been established.
Education
Under-graduate
The EuroMISE Centre provides courses for all students, and
special courses for eligible students on selected topics of
medical informatics and statistics for Charles
University (Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, First Faculty
of Medicine, Third Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Natural
Sciences) and courses on Internet for students of First
Faculty of Medicine.
Post-graduate
The Centre is involved in education, and in the supervising
and examining doctoral students of Charles University (Faculty
of Mathematics and Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences,
Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové and Faculty of
Medicine in Pilsen).
Long-life
Again, the Centre is involved in education for physicians and
other graduates, e.g. Informatics and Oncology (1994), Data
Analysis (1994), Basics of Medical Informatics (1996), Medical
Informatics in Hospital Practice (1996), Statistical Methods
in Biology and Medicine (1997).
International
The Centre runs courses, developed in frame of the European
Project EuroMISE (TEMPUS-PHARE) and IT EDUCTRA (4th Framework
Programme) for teachers, physicians, health researchers, and
managers from: Medical Informatics (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997);
Medical Statistics and Epidemiology (1994, 1995), Statistics
in Clinics and Epidemiology (1997).
Courses
From the international courses
run by the EuroMISE Centre, there have graduated more
then 100 participants form the Czech Republic, Belgium, Bosna
and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Libanon, Hungary, Poland,
Romania, and Slovenia. The courses were conducted by teachers
from well known universities and research institutes from
France (University of Bordeaux II), Germany (Ruprecht-Karls
University and Cancer Research Institute, Heidelberg; Phillips
University, Marburg; GSF-MEDIS Institute, Neuherberg), Greece
( Aristotle University, Thessaloniki), Ireland (Trinity
College, Dublin), The Netherlands (Erasmus University,
Rotterdam; Limburg University, Maastricht), Switzerland
(Geneva Hospital) and United Kingdom (UMIST, Manchester). Also
successful graduates of the international courses participated
as teachers in these courses in the later years.
The Director of the EuroMISE Centre participated in lectures
on the course „Introduction to Computer Science, Operation
Skills and Management of Health Care Information“ in Targu
Mures (Romania, 1997) and in lectures concerning
interdisciplinary medical informatics education at a
videoconference in Split (Croatia, 1997). At the IMIA
Conference in Newcastle (Australia, 1997) staff from the
Centre contributed to the development of international
recommendations for Medical Informatics Curriculum.
Research
Research in the
EuroMISE Center is interdisciplinary. It concentrates on
biomedical statistical data analysis, methods for extracting
relevant information for decision making and managing
uncertainty, methods for decision support, study of risk
factors of diseases, and mathematical methods in genetics and
epidemiology. The research co-operation with other
academic and health institutions is stimulated by Czech grant
agencies (Grant agency of the Czech Republic, Grant Agency of
Charles University, Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of
the Czech Republic) and European Projects MUM (Copernicus) and
I4C-TRIPLEC (4th framework programme). Some research results
have been applied by program prototypes, e.g. E.T. (quick
processing of data from epidemiological studies), CORE
(constitution and reduction of data) and HYPERTENSION
(decision support for therapy for arterial hypertension).
Research results were published in both Czech and
international journals. The EuroMISE Center is also involved
in editorial boards of journals (International Journal of
Medical Informatics, Physician and Technology) and in
scientific societies (IMIA, EFMI, Czech Medical Society J.E.
Purkyně and Society for Cybernetics and Informatics of
the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic).
Charles
University
Academy
of Sciences
Faculty
of Mathematics and Physics
Institute of
Computer Science ,