Category: News

CHEPS Fall 2023 Seminar Series: Sung Won Choi and Jodyn Platt

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Jodyn Platt (left) and Sung Won Choi.

Once considered a “last resort” for those diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, bone marrow transplants (BMTs) have become a more successful treatment option in recent decades. As the number of BMTs performed around the world continues to rise, so do questions about its ethical complexities.

On Monday, September 25th, the Center for Healthcare Engineering & Patient Safety (CHEPS) partnered with Sung Won Choi, MD, MS and Jodyn Platt, MPH to discuss the intricacies of informed consent.

Bone marrow basics

Depending on the kind of cancer a patient is diagnosed with, there are different methods for BMT: while autologous transplants allow a person to “donate” their own pre-chemotherapy stem cells to themselves, allogeneic transplants require donation from another person. Continue Reading »

CHEPS Fall 2023 Seminar Series: Max Li and Dana Habers

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From left: Max Li, Amy Cohn, Dana Habers.

This week at the Providing Better Healthcare Through Systems Engineering Seminar Series, students, staff, faculty, clinicians, and community members had the opportunity to discuss the intersection of two distinct industries: pharmaceuticals and aerospace.

Drones and privacy

Max Li, PhD, MSSE is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Industrial and Operations Engineering at U-M. He joined us on Monday to offer his expertise on drones—a novel subject for many working in healthcare.

One of the main considerations necessary when speaking about drones is privacy. Just like with commercial air traffic, tracking and surveillance (via radar, satellites, etc.) Continue Reading »

CHEPS Fall 2023 Seminar Series: Alexander T. Janke

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Dr. Janke (left) and Professor Cohn.

Same series, new structure

This year in U-M’s Industrial and Operations Engineering (IOE) 813 course, the Center for Healthcare Engineering & Patient Safety (CHEPS) is experimenting with a new format focused on enhancing innovation by leveraging resources across the University.

Titled Providing Better Healthcare Through Systems Engineering and led by Professor Amy Cohn, this series comprises eleven brainstorming sessions with healthcare professionals about ways to strategically utilize engineering to improve care delivery for all. Instead of a traditional lecture series, these sessions are intended to function more as “no such things as bad ideas” brainstorming workshops. Continue Reading »

University of Michigan’s Amy Cohn identified as top Chief Transformation Officer

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According to Becker’s Hospital Review, Center for Healthcare Engineering & Patient Safety (CHEPS) Faculty Director Amy Cohn is one of 49 chief transformation officers to know in 2023.

Becker’s explains that “Chief transformation officers inspire, model and implement lasting change at their organizations. Armed with problem-solving and leadership skills, these executives set the goals and tone for each transformation initiative.”

Having applied such skills to enact great operational change during that uncertain first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Professor Cohn was appointed as CTO of Michigan Medicine in 2021. She has since expanded the scope of her CTO projects to tackle challenges like provider burnout, resident mental health, emergency room capacity, and access to prenatal care.

Continue Reading »

CHEPS alumnus publishes ureteroscopy irrigation research

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Bassel Salka

CHEPS alumus and fourth-year medical school student Bassel Salka recently published a research article on irrigation practices during ureteroscopy (the process of looking into the ureters and kidneys using a camera) in Thereapeutic Advances in Urology. The article, titled “Under pressure: irrigation practice patterns during flexible ureteroscopy,” investigates the challenges of irrigation during these procedures and consults surgeons across the globe on their methods in hopes of bettering patient outcomes. Our CHEPS alumni continue to impress and astound in the world of medicine!

— Written by Cole Weber, CHEPS Student

CHEPSters raise funds for Turkish and Syrian earthquake disaster relief

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On February 6, 2023, Turkey and Syria were struck with a 7.8 earthquake taking tens of thousands of lives and causing over US$84.1 billion in damage. As a contribution to the disaster relief, the Cohn family quickly took action to collect donations from the CHEPS community, matching each donation times 5. Thanks to the amazing generosity of the community, and a few of Dr. Cohn’s IOE310 students, CHEPS was able to raise a $3,000 donation by February 11th!

SI North to Singapore: Surg Comp Takes on WSC 2022

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In December of 2022, Center for Healthcare Engineering and Patient Safety (CHEPS) staff member Fumiya Abe-Nornes and students Rachel Zhang and Nathan Smith got to experience their dream as research assistants: Presenting at an international conference on their work.

For the last few years, the Surgical Competency project team at CHEPS researched the limitations of current surgical residency training guidelines. At the project’s conception in 2019, Fumiya Abe-Nornes, an undergraduate student studying biophysics at the time, worked closely with fellow CHEPSters and clinical collaborators Drs. Rishindra Reddy, Brian George, and Angela Thelen, to better understand the concern of the readiness of graduating surgeons to independently perform surgeries.

Continue Reading »