School of Informatics at IUPUI announces three new faculty members
August 1, 2008
Three new scholars have joined the School of Informatics faculty, effective Aug. 1. The trio will teach classes and lead research in the areas of media arts and science, human computer interaction and health informatics.
Davide Bolchini, assistant professor, will join the faculty of Human-Computer Interaction. Dr. Davide Bolchini received his Ph.D. in communication sciences, University of Lugano, TI, Switzerland (2003); and holds M.S. and B.A. degrees in communication sciences, University of Lugano, TI, Switzerland (2000).
Prior to joining Indiana University, Dr. Bolchini was visiting senior research fellow at University College London (UK), having previously held a post-doc research and teaching position at the University of Lugano’s TEC-Lab; lecturing appointments at the Politecnico di Milano (Italy); and visiting research positions at North Carolina State University and University of Toronto.
He is vice president of the Swiss chapter of the Usability Professionals’ Association, and has taught various academic courses at the University of Lugano; University College London; and Politecnico di Milano; as well as training courses for usability and new media professionals.
Dr. Bolchini’s research interests include the intersection between new media communication, human-computer interaction design, and requirements engineering and usability, with a particular focus on modeling the user experience for hypermedia and Web content-intensive applications. Dr. Bolchini’s research has found applicability in various domains, including cultural heritage, eLearning, eGovernment and, more recently, bioinformatics.
Mark Pfaff, assistant professor, will join the faculty of Media Arts and Science. Dr. Mark Pfaff received his Ph.D. from the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) at the Pennsylvania State University (2008). At Penn State he managed the User Science and Engineering Lab at IST, and was a research assistant for both the Multidisciplinary Initiatives in Naturalistic Decision Systems Group; and the Center for Network-Centric Cognition and Information Fusion.
His research explores the intersections of people, information, and technology in computer-supported cooperative work environments through the use of experimental simulations and mixed-methodological approaches. Dr. Pfaff’s background in visual and interactive design draws from a M.S. in multimedia technology and a B.A. in visual arts. Dr. Pfaff was formerly an instructor in interactive media at Duquesne University, where he taught multimedia development, Web design, human-computer interaction and sound design. Research interests include psychology of technology; and computer-supported cooperative work, particularly distributed decision-making; communication technology and collaborative systems design; and new media.
Hadi Kharrazi, assistant professor, will join the faculty of Health Informatics. Dr. Hadi Kharrazi is an interdisciplinary medical informatics Ph.D. candidate between the faculty of computer sciences and the faculty of medicine at Dalhousie University, Canada. He is a physician (M.D., Iran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services); and holds a M.S. degree in health informatics. Dr. Kharrazi has been a fellow of the Canadian Health Informatics PhD/Postdoc Strategic Training Program; and has won several academic honors including the prestigious NSHRF and CIHR doctoral awards.
His research interests include patient empowerment and behavioral changes in patients by interactive systems; patient centered decision support systems; human computer interaction in medicine; and Web-based personalized patient health records.
For additional information contact Mary O'Neill, administrative assistant, Indiana University School of Informatics at IUPUI, 535 W. Michigan Street, IT 475 Indianapolis, Indiana 46202. Or call 317.278.7602.
