Geographic Information Systems and Health Applications

Omar A. Khan has a keen interest in the field of health and GIS and has served as co-chair of the First and Second International Health Geographics Conferences. His interests include health care for the under-served and an active research interest in international health. Khan is currently at the University of Vermont. He served as the first Director of the South Asia Infectious Disease Network (SAIDNET) and presently works with the South Asia Public Health Forum as well. He has served as a consultant for the US Dept of Health & Human Services as well as international disease control programs such as the AIDS International Training & Research Program (AITRP), through the University of Alabama School of Public Health.

Ric Skinner is the Senior GIS Coordinator in the Geographic Information System Program in the Department of Surgery at Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. Ric provides overall coordination of GIS activities at BMC and with BMC?s community, state and national partners, as well as supports GIS Program staff, in the application of GIS to healthcare. Ric has over 30 years of professional experience: 12 years in the utilization of GIS in healthcare and environmental areas, and over 20 years pursuing research in environmental management and assessment. Prior to BMC, he was a Research Scientist in the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services providing GIS support on epidemiology studies, specifically in cancer control and prevention. He was also the department?s GIS Coordinator and Representative to the Interagency GIS Team. In the mid-1990s, Ric was an independent consultant providing GIS services to several hospitals in eastern Pennsylvania and a major healthcare information provider in Virginia. The majority of his professional career was spent in environmental monitoring and surveillance for electric power companies in Michigan and Pennsylvania. During this time he also designed, constructed and operated three aquatic bioassay laboratories. Ric initiated and co-chaired the First International Health Geographics Conference in 1998 in Baltimore, MD, and co-chaired the Second International Health Geographics Conference in 2000 in Washington, DC. He is on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Health Geographics. He has authored or co-authored over 100 publications, reports and presentations on such topics as GIS, health geographics, and environmental management and assessment. [Editor]