Research Interests:

Applications of computers to medicine and neurology, including artificial intelligence, computer assisted diagnosis, neuroanatomical knowledge bases, diagnosis from images, teleradiology, computer-generated explanation, artificial neural networks, cognitive modelling.

Research Experience:

Intensity fluctuation spectroscopy of macromolecules and bacteria. From 1970 to 1973, Ph.D. dissertation research analyzing the motions of macromolecules in solution (diffusion) and motile bacteria by studying their doppler-shifted spectra using extremely monochromatic laser light. Collaborators were Yin Yeh, of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Todd Schuster and David Yphantis of the University of Connecticut, Seymour S. Alpert of the Physics Department of the University of New Mexico, and Dale Schaefer, of Sandia National Laboratory.

Computer assisted diagnosis. From 1981 to 1989. Was a member of the Decision Systems Laboratory, University of Pittsburgh, headed by Harry Pople and Jack Myers. Pople and Myers developed INTERNIST, a program for diagnosis in Internal Medicine. At DSL, I developed a neuroanatomical knowledge base for use in neurological localization and diagnosis and worked on CADUCEUS, a more sophisticated program for medical diagnosis than INTERNIST. Collaborators were Harry Pople, Jack Myers, Randy Miller, Sean McLinden, Michael First, Casey Quayle, and Russell Yount.

Radiologic Automated Diagnosis. From 1985 to 1989. Worked on a system for acquiring, displaying, and analyzing anatomically based images (e.g. CT, MRI) using octree encoding methods and the neuroanatomic knowledge base. Collaborators were John Vries, Sean McLinden, and Russell Yount.

Artificial Neural Networks. From 1985 to 1990. Students and fellows of mine constructed neural networks to perform analysis of visual fields and to emulate dementia and depression. Collaborators: David Coffey and Chuck Webster.

Explanation in the clinical setting. From 1990 to 1995. We developed a program to deliver explanations to patients with migraine and to answer their questions regarding their disease. The program used natural language techniques and ethnologists were employed to determine patient conceptions and questions that were not being addressed. Collaborators: Bruce Buchanan, Johanna Moore, Diana Forsythe, Stellan Ohlsson, Guiseppe Carenini, Myra Brostoff.

Neuropsychological abnormalities in patients with HIV infection. From 1990 to 1995. We studied a large cohort of gay men longitudinally to find out the course of the neuropyschological manifestations of the infections. Collaborators: James Becker, Oscar Lopez, Stan Dorst.

Teleradiology. From 1993 to 1997. We have placed scanners and high-speed network links into rural hospitals to allow rapid consultation with neuroradiologists, neurologists, and neurosurgeons at our medical center. Collaborators: Howard Yonas, David Gur.

Clinical Interests:

Headache: I currently have a large number of headache patients, mostly migraines. It is gratifying to treat migraine patients because their lives are often very hampered by their illness and we can help them after they have failed usual medical management.

Stroke: I trained with Lou Caplan and thus have gained a life-long interest in stroke and the myriad of interesting facets of the brain exposed by studying patients who have had strokes.

Higher functions: Even before I met Lou Caplan, I was attracted to neurology by the mystery of the functioning of the brain and the behavior it produces.

Medical Ethics: I took an ethics course from Mark Siegler at the University of Chicago and have been interested in ethics ever since. I was an associate of the Center for Medical Ethics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Funded Research Grants:

  1. Neurologic Consultation Computer Program. National Library of Medicine (NIH): 1982-1985 (1 R23 LM 03889). Principal Investigator

  2. Extending the Cognitive Sciences into Medicine. Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation: 1984-1987 Co-investigator

  3. Neuro-imaging Expert System. National Library of Medicine (NIH): 1985-88 (1 R01 LM 04431). Principal Investigator

  4. HIV-1 Related Neuropsychological Abnormalities National Institute of Mental Health: 1990-1995 (1 R01 MH 4531101A1). Co-investigator

  5. A Computer Model of Depression and Dementia. National Institute of Aging: 1990-1995 (2 P50 AG05133). Co-investigator.

  6. Explanation in the Clinical Setting. National Library of Medicine: 1991-1994 (5 R01 LM 05299). Co-principal investigator.

  7. Teleradiology System to Enhance Consultative Services between Primary and Secondary Care Hospitals and a Tertiary Care Facility. National Library of Medicine: 1994-1997 (NLM 93-105/PSP) Co-principal investigator.