Laël Gatewood, Health Informatics - the University of Minnesota

Dr. Gatewood is Co-Director of a major National Library of Medicine (NLM) training grant in medical informatics, one of the first programs in the field now in its 30th year of NIH funding. This program provides informatics research opportunities, graduate programs, practice settings and computer resources for medical and graduate students, health professionals and postdoctoral fellows. She is also Director of the Neuroinformatics Core for the International Neuroimaging Consortium (INC). She supervises outreach activities for the collaborator, including the Website, interactive demonstrations, tutorial presentations and conference coordination.  She has been active in clinical research and its information systems support for the past 30 years. Other research interests include regional immunization registries, integration of public health recording systems, health information exchange and other applications of public health informatics. A current area of research is the development of health information sharing systems for interprofessional teams working in transitional care.

Dr. Gatewood was previously Director of the National Micropopulation Simulation Resource (NMSR), funded by NIH (National Center for Research Resources) 1983-1998 to promote the use of Monte Carlo and micropopulation models in biomedical research. The NMSR center was unique in that it explored micropopulations of interest to epidemiologists, demographers and those in health services research. In micropopulation simulations, each subject can have a different time course for discrete events, which allows analysis of natural disease patterns, prevention and/or interventions over a period of time. It was also possible to assemble a population with known genetic characteristics against which to test new methods of genetic analysis, as in linkage or segregation studies. The models were used to simulate population patterns of infectious disease as well as to study chronic diseases such as heart attack, stroke, cancer, arthritis, and diabetes. These studies helped scientists understand how disease traits spread through generations, new methods of primary/secondary prevention and the role of risk-factor exposures, such as smoking or diet. Other studies included the complex pattern of intravenous drug use and HIV infection, as well as the efficacy of treatments in a simulated closed population in high-risk areas. Similar models helped to evaluate patterns of influenza infection and vaccine efficacy in confined populations such as nursing home residents and children in day-care centers.

Research Interests:

Micropopulation Simulation
Clinical Research Information Systems
Child Health Records
Health Information Exchange
Nursing Informatics
Public Health Informatics

Selected References:

• Jaspers MW, Gardner RM, GATEWOOD LC, Haux R, Schmidt D, Wetter T. The International Partnership for Health Informatics Education:  Lessons learned from six years of experience. Methods Inf Med. 2005;44(1):25-31. PMID: 15778791

• GATEWOOD L, Limburg M, Gardner R, Haux R, Jaspers M, Schmidt D, Wetter T.  International Master Classes in Health Informatics.  Int J Med Inf. 2004;73(2):111-6. PMID: 15063369

• Yasnoff WA et al. A National Agenda for Public Health Informatics.  J Public Health Management Practice 2001;7(6):1-21. PMID: 11713752

• Jacobs DR Jr, Kroenke C, Crow R, Deshpande M, Gu DF, GATEWOOD L, Blackburn H.  PREDICT: A simple risk score for clinical severity and long-term prognosis after hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction or unstable angina: the Minnesota heart survey. Circulation. 1999;100(6):599-607.  PMID: 10441096

• LaVenture M, Wicklin N, Schillo T, GATEWOOD L. A decentralized, community-based design for statewide immunization registries in Minnesota. AMIA Procs 388-92, 1997. PMID: 9357654

• Park HA, Peterson D, GATEWOOD L.  Using stochastic simulation to model vaccine effectiveness.  J Korean Soc Med Inform 1997;3(2):201-6.

• Ackerman E, Zhuo Z, Altmann M, Kilis D, Yang J-J, Seaholm S, GATEWOOD L, Peterson D, Hatfield G, Goay MS, Prasad B, Gilbertson D, Altmann M, McGue MK, Rich SS.  Simulation of Stochastic Micropopulation Models. I.  The SUMMERS simulation shell.  II.  VESPERS: Epidemiological model implementations for spread of viral infections.  III.  COGNET: An artificial neural network for visual recognition.  IV. SNAPPERS: Model implementation for genetic traits.  Comp Biol Med 23:177-198, 23:199-213, 23:215-225 (1993); 25: 519-31 (1995).

• Ong CL, Tsai WT, Altmann M, GATEWOOD L, Wee BC.  Improving reuse in a family of biomedical simulation applications. Simulation in the Health Sciences. Proc 1994 Western Multiconference. SCS. 1994, pp.28-33, San Diego CA.

• Altmann M, Wee BC, Willard K, Peterson D, GATEWOOD LC. Network analytic methods for epidemiological risk assessment. Stat Med. 1994;13(1):53-60. PMID: 9061840

• Zhuo Z, Ackerman E, GATEWOOD L, Kottke T, Wu S-C, Park H-A: Polychotomous multivariate models for coronary heart disease simulations.  I.  Tests of a logistic model.  II.  Comparisons of risk functions.  III.  Model sensitivities and risk factor interventions. IV. The impact of physiological aging. Int J Biomed Comp 27:133-148, 28:181-204, 28:205-220 (1991); 37:287-96 (1993).

• Peterson DP, Willard K, Altmann M, GATEWOOD L, Davidson G: Monte Carlo simulation of HIV infection in an IV drug user community.  J AIDS, 3:1086-1095,1990. PMID: 2213509

• WHO MONICA Project Principal Investigators.  The World Health Organization MONICA Project (MONItoring trends and determinants in Cardiovascular disease): A major international collaboration. J Clin Epid. 41(2): 105-14, 1988.

• Canner PL, GATEWOOD LC, White C, Lachin JM, Schoenfield LG: External monitoring of a data coordinating center: Experience of the National Cooperative Gallstone Study.  Controlled Clinical Trials 8(1):1-11,1987.PMID: 3568691

• Held JP, Chute CG, GATEWOOD LC, Connelly D: A schematic analysis of medical classification systems.  Proc American Medical Informatics Association Conference, Spring 1990.

• Bender A, Jaeger H, Fraser J, Anderson W, GATEWOOD L, Larkin S: A feasibility study of a state-wide pathology-based cancer surveillance system in Minnesota.  J Med Syst 2(1):25-44,1987. PMID: 3611994

• Canner PL, GATEWOOD LC, White C, Lachin JM, Schoenfield LG: External monitoring of a data coordinating center: Experience of the National Cooperative Gallstone Study.  Controlled Clinical Trials 8(1):1-11,1987. PMID: 3568691

• Baxter J, GATEWOOD L, Weil G, Gomez-Marin O, Folsom A, Jacobs D, Wu S, Gunderson P: Computerized linkage of regional public health records. Proc 1985 Pub Health Conf on Records and Statistics, Washington DC, pp. 97-101, 1985.

• Ackerman E, GATEWOOD LC: Mathematical Models in the Health Sciences: A Computer-Aided Approach.  Minneapolis MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1979.

• Statistical design considerations in the  NHLI multiple risk factor intervention trial (MRFIT). The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial Group. J Chronic Dis. 1977;30(5):261-75.PMID: 863996

• The multiple risk factor intervention trial (MRFIT). A national study of  primary prevention of coronary heart disease. JAMA. 1976;235(8):825-7.PMID: 946311

• Elveback LR, Fox JP, Ackerman E, Langworthy A, Boyd M, GATEWOOD L. An influenza simulation model for immunization studies. Am J Epidemiol. 1976;103(2):152-65. PMID: 814808

• GATEWOOD LC, Ackerman E, Ewy W, Elveback L, Fox JP. Simulation of models of enteric virus epidemics. Int J Biomed Comput. 1971;2(3):201-13. PMID: 5097562

• Fox JP, Elveback L, Scott W, GATEWOOD L, Ackerman E. Herd immunity:  Basic concept and relevance to  public health immunization practices. Am J Epidemiol. 1971;94(3):179-89.  PMID: 5093648 [Republished with discussion in Am J Epidemiol.  1995;141(3):187-97; discussion 185-6. PMID: 7840092]

• GATEWOOD LC, Ackerman E, Rosevear JW, Molnar GD. Modeling blood glucose dynamics. Behav Sci. 1970;15(1):72-87.PMID: 5413469