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:

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 ,