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<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> wihir@csg.uwaterloo.ca
[mailto:wihir@csg.uwaterloo.ca] <BR><B>Sent:</B> June 20, 2007 4:43
PM<BR><B>To:</B> Brenda Smith<BR><B>Subject:</B> Special Note about A Special
Lecture: Health/Biomedical Expert - Dr. Octo Barnett - June
27<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><FONT
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"
face=verdana size=2>Dear Colleague<BR><BR>Re: The Visit of Octo Barnett to the
University of Waterloo on June 27, 2007. <BR><BR>When I first became involved in
the Health Informatics area - then called "Medical Computing" - in the late
1960s, virtually the first person I learned about was Dr. Octo Barnett. At that
time he was already very well-known and highly acclaimed for his work in
developing MUMPS and his development of a laboratory dedicated to medical
computing at Massachusetts General Hospital. MUMPS is a programming language,
using which many healthcare information systems have been built. It survives to
this day in the cores of many vendors' products. His Laboratory for Computer
Science was the venue of training of many of the leaders that have emerged in
health and biomedical informatics as well as being the locus of development of
what was probably the first major ambulatory care information system. You may be
familiar with his current work on a well-know clinical decision support tool,
DXplain: See: <A href="http://lcs.mgh.harvard.edu/projects/dxplain.html"
target=_blank>http://lcs.mgh.harvard.edu/projects/dxplain.html</A><BR><BR>Over
the years we have all followed his work and then the work of his protégés. His
influence has been both wide and deep in our discipline.<BR><BR>Beyond this, he
has also contributed significantly to raising awareness regarding and addressing
the needs of persons with dyslexia. He not only gives freely of his time for his
students, but also for the benefit of the larger society in which he
lives.<BR><BR>We are very honored by his visit, as he goes right back to the
first intellectual stirrings that now are the target of billions of dollars and
thousands of professionals: ehealth as we now call it.<BR><BR>Over the years
I've been privileged to talk with Octo and exchange many calls and emails. I've
also learned of his sharp wit and wry sense of humor. He is a truly interesting
person and fun to be with.<BR><BR>This note is just to ask you to join us...in
person, via webcast, or via videoconference through Ontario Telehealth Network
at 3:00 PM EST on Wednesday, June 27 (next week...it's hard to believe!). If you
cannot attend, then just send him an email welcoming him to Canada (<A
href="mailto:OBARNETT@PARTNERS.ORG">OBARNETT@PARTNERS.ORG</A>) and later watch
the program on our HI Alive archive. This can be found at: <A
href="http://hi.uwaterloo.ca/hi/index.html"
target=_blank>http://hi.uwaterloo.ca/hi/index.html</A><BR><BR>He is a great man,
with immense wisdom, and a model of achievement.<BR><BR>Sincerely, <BR><BR>H.
Dominic Covvey<BR>Professor, NSERC/Agfa Research Chair in Health
Informatics<BR>Director, Waterloo Institute for Health Informatics
Research<BR>University of Waterloo<BR>200 University Ave. West<BR>Waterloo, ON,
Canada N2L 3G1<BR>Tel: 519-888-4567 ext. 35996<BR>Fax: 519-746-5422<BR>E-Mail:
<A
href="mailto:dcovvey@uwaterloo.ca">dcovvey@uwaterloo.ca</A><BR></FONT></BODY></HTML>