Dr. Michael Parker

Dr. Michael Parker is a Senior Interactive Media Architect in the Center for Educational Technology at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Parker received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. Before training to become a physician, he worked in the software industry and studied exercise physiology at University of Colorado while performing biomechanical analysis for U.S. cyclists at the Olympic Training Center.

He went on to medical school at University of Colorado and returned to Boston for an internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He now combines his computer and medical knowledge to create interactive Web-based animations and simulations that help learners visualize and understand difficult concepts in medicine. He also juggles multiple teaching roles at the Harvard Medical School, including lecturer and tutor in the Human Systems, a major required course for second-year medical students. As a 2005-2006 Rabkin Fellow in Medical Education, Dr. Parker worked on developing an electronic tutor guide (e-tutor guide) to help first-time basic science tutors become more effective teachers.

Dr. Parker's current interests include development of clinically oriented interactive web simulations to teach doctors in training how to understand and effectively treat challenging medical conditions. He is working on material related to commonly encountered water and electrolyte imbalances, as well as tutorials on electrocardiography (EKG) that are used in the Harvard Medical School clinical curriculum. In collaboration with Dr. David Roberts, he is creating a patient education web site for people with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a complex and serious disease.

The interactive diagrams Dr. Parker created as co-author of Respiratory Physiology: A Clinical Approach (with Dr. Richard Schwartzstein; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2006) were recently honored with the 2006 Frank Netter Award.

Dr. John Halamka

A practicing emergency physician and guru in the national drive to synthesize data and harness technology in the health care industry, John D. Halamka, MD, MS, is in charge of some of New England's key health networks. He is Chief Information Officer at CareGroup Health System, which provides coordinated health care services across Eastern Massachusetts. At CareGroup, Dr. Halmaka is responsible for all clinical, financial, administrative, and academic information technology serving 3,000 doctors, 12,000 employees, and one million patients. He is also the Chief Information Officer and Associate Dean for Educational Technology at Harvard Medical School, overseeing all educational, research, and administrative computing for 18,000 faculty and 3,000 students. In addition, he also works as the Chief Information Officer of the Harvard Clinical Research Institute, a not-for-profit joint venture between Harvard Medical School, CareGroup, and Partners; the goal is to advance patient care through cutting-edge clinical research.

Dr. Halamka is also Chairman of the New England Health Electronic Data Interchange Network (NEHEN), a consortium of regional health payers and providers who have initiated a secure e-commerce solution to reduce administrative health care costs. The network has been cited as a successful model of how regional consortiums can best function. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of MA-Share, an initiative operated by the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium, where he monitors clinical data exchange efforts in Massachusetts. Finally, as Chair of the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) he coordinates the process of electronic standards harmonization among stakeholders nationwide.

Dr. Richard Schwartzstein

Dr. Richard M. Schwartzstein is Associate Chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), where he directs one of only two national centers for the study and treatment of dyspnea, or breathing difficulties. The Asthma and Dyspnea Center at BIDMC, a multi-disciplinary program that includes cardiopulmonary exercise testing and pulmonary rehabilitation facilities, specializes in the evaluation of patients with dyspnea of unclear etiology or breathlessness seemingly out of proportion to the patient's known pulmonary problems.

Dr. Schwartzstein's research has linked basic physiology on the control of breathing and respiratory sensations with clinical dyspnea. He has an active collaboration with laboratories under the direction of Dr. Robert Banzett at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Schwartzstein's work has resulted in a greater understanding of the distinct qualitative aspects of dyspnea, the links between the verbal phrases used by patients to describe their breathing discomfort and the underlying pathophysiological disorders causing dyspnea, and the origins of chest tightness in asthma.

Dr. Schwartzstein has a strong interest in medical education and holds several leadership positions in education at BIDMC and Harvard Medical School (HMS). He serves as Vice President for Education at BIDMC and Faculty Associate Dean for Medical Education at HMS. He is also Executive Director of the Shapiro Institute for Education and Research, and Course Director of Integrated Human Physiology at HMS.

Dr. Schwartzstein is the co-author, with Dr. Michael Parker, of Respiratory Physiology: A Clinical Approach (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins).

Dr. David Roberts

Dr. David H. Roberts is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and he is the Clinical Director of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

His current professional activities at HMS and the BIDMC include ambulatory patient care, teaching, and administration. His clinical practice as a pulmonologist is focused on patients with dyspnea (difficulty in breathing) and pulmonary hypertension, as well as other general pulmonary disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.

Other clinical and teaching responsibilities include attending on the BIDMC inpatient pulmonary consult service and precepting fellows in its ambulatory pulmonary medicine continuity clinic, where he works to develop a rigorous case-based curriculum for fellows. Dr. Roberts also teaches medical students and residents: he is course planner, lecturer, and tutor for the Harvard Medical School second year course in respiratory pathophysiology.

In addition to his administrative role as Division Clinical Director, Dr. Roberts also serves as the Medical Director of the Pulmonary Function Laboratory, and as the Assistant Director of the Shapiro Institute for Education and Research. In 2005, Dr. Roberts received the "Teacher of the Year" award in the Combined Harvard Program in Pulmonary Medicine, and in 2006 he was awarded the Harvard Medical School Faculty Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

Dr. Barbara Cockrill

Dr. Barbara Cockrill is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and she is the Clinical Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Pulmonary Vascular Disease Center, and the Director of the MGH Pulmonary Fellows Clinic. She has a busy clinical practice at MGH focusing on patients with pulmonary vascular disease as well as general pulmonary medicine. She attends regularly on the Pulmonary Consultation service, and in the Pulmonary Fellows Clinic. Her teaching activities at MGH include regular formalized teaching sessions with pulmonary fellows, as well as active teaching in the clinic and on the Consult service. At HMS, Dr. Cockrill is a course director for the second year pathophysiology course. In this course, in addition to administrative responsibilities, she is an active tutor, lecturer and small group leader. She is actively involved in development of new curriculum and faculty development. She also serves on the HMS Curriculum Committee. This group is charged with oversight of the entire four-year curriculum for medical students at HMS. She has received “Outstanding Tutor” and “Outstanding Course Planner” awards at HMS.