Resume – Dean Yergens

PhD – Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine (Nov 2015)
University of Calgary, Canada
Specialization: Health Services Research
Thesis: Deriving Evidence for Healthcare Decision Makers: The Case of Patient Flow
Committee: William Ghali (Supervisor), Christopher Doig, Peter Faris, Tom Noseworthy
Courses: Biostatistics I, Biostatistics II , Epidemiology, Health Services Research, Determinants of Health, Health Research Methods, Administrative Data, Health Economics, Computer Science – Advanced Topics in Multi Agent Systems, World Health Organization (WHO) Internship. 
Other Courses: Summer Program in Data Analysis 2012 (York University), PIMS-MPrime-CDM Summer School on Disease Modeling of Infectious Diseases (University of Alberta),  Applied Survival Analysis (Ohio State), Applied Logistic Regression (Ohio State) 

 BSc – Computer Science, Faculty of Science (June 1993)
University of Calgary, Canada

CEO/President, Synthesis Research Inc, Calgary, Canada (www.synthesis.info)
January 2013 to present

• Literature review software application for improving scoping, systematic and general literature reviews.
• Emphasis on efficiency, automation and text data mining. 

CEO/President, Healthcare Simulations Inc (www.healthcaresimulations.com)
February 2001 to present

• Founded Healthcare Simulations Inc, based around improving planning and operations management in acute care hospital concerning on patient flow utilization and efficiency.
• Software has been applied at the Calgary Health Region, University of Calgary, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Malawi, Zambia, Philippines and Kenya.
• HealthSim (patient flow management system) was a pilot project (2003-2006) at the Rockyview Hospital (500 bed acute-care) and named 1 of 5 Best Practices in the 2005 Calgary Health Region Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation (CCHSA) Report.
• Software applications: Patient-X (Heterogeneous database ETL with Patient Anonymizer), WebReports (Rapid Deployment Web-based Reporting and Analytics system), KnowledgeShare (Systematic and Literature Review system), Meta Data Repository (MDR) and MT4Health.  
• Current Project (2010-present): Development of an Information Management System for CCEPTR (Critical Care Epidemiologic and Biologic Tissue Resource) and Alberta SepsisNet. 

Internship, World Health Organization
May 2010 – August 2010  (4 months)

• Development of the System Requirements for the International Classification of Disease Mortality Knowledge Base (ICD Manual Volume II).
• Development of Visualization techniques for understanding ICD10 and Mortality Knowledge Base diagnosis codes and relationships.
• Collaboration with various departments on Information Management and Analytic reporting systems.

Manager, Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba
June 2006 – June 2009 (3 years 1 month)

• Research in Quality Improvement and System Design. Focusing on process improvement changes for data management through the utilization patient privacy anonymizing tools, rapid development web-based analytic systems, data mining, machine learning and discrete event/multi-agent simulations.

Development Director, Medical Informatics, Department of Research, Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
June 2006 – June 2009 (3 years 1 month)

• Health Informatics in Developing Countries projects include Philippines (Physician eMentoring, hospital management information system and literature repository), Zambia (medical informatics analytic system), Malawi (medical staffing simulations) and Kenya (medical informatics analytic system and cell phones for HIV drug monitoring).
• Faculty of Medicine Committee representation for High Performance Computing/Grid Computing committee, Curriculum Information System steering committee, Centre for Innovation in Quality Improvement and System Design steering committee, Manitoba eHealth Clinical Advisory Committee.

Lecturer, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba
June 2006 – June 2009 (3 years 1 month)

Health Informatics Specialist – Centre for Health and Policy Studies, University of Calgary
February 2003 – June 2006 (3 years 5 months)

• Co-authored PRECARN Study on Intelligent Systems Applications in Health Care (2005)
• Research concentrated on Health Informatics in Developing Countries (Philippines, Zambia and Malawi), Healthcare planning and operations management (HealthSim) and data management and data mining for critical care environments. 
• Additional projects include advising to the Ward of the 21st Century, a project to develop the most advanced ward with research capabilities in North America around Health Informatics research, systems innovation and the application of artificial intelligence. Another project is related to the development of software to support Patient Privacy through database encryption techniques.
• Researching the commercialization of Health Informatics software applications in Canada.

Project Manager/Research Scientist, Alberta Research Council
June 2000 – February 2003 (2 years 9 months)

• Project Manager for the Alberta We//net Pharmaceutical Information Network and Alberta We//net Physician Office System certification process. 
• Manage and Strategic planning for the Health Informatics Advanced Software Group composing of 5 software developers and systems analysts.
• Researching Health Care Standards (HL7, DiCom, SnoMed, CorbaMed, Arden Syntax)
• Developing interoperability guidelines for the transfer of health care information through XML for telemedicine and home care standards.
• Participating in various committees and conferences – HL7 Annual Plenary Meeting and the Health Information Standards Committee of Alberta Technical Advisory Group (HISCA TAG).
• Initiated Research Projects for Hospital Discrete Event Simulation and Global Surveillance and Emergency Response System (Satellite-Based Remote Monitoring Device /Geographical Information System).

Information Technology Consultant, GTZ Democracy – Malawi
August 1999 – November 1999 ( 4 months)

• European Union funded project implemented through GTZ Democracy (German Development Corporation).
• Responsible for the installation of workstations in 28 zone offices throughout Malawi. 
• Assessed Internet Connectivity and implemented Internet Proxy Server and Email Server.
• Developed and instructed computer training program for all staff.

MIS Consultant, Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF)
July 1998 – July 1999 (1 year 1 month)

• World Bank funded project ($70 Million USD).
• Responsible for managing the MIS department – planning, budgeting, and procurement.
• Responsible for the network design, system implementation, and Internet and Email communication for offices located throughout the country.
• Oversea and assist in staff development, training, geographical information systems and other areas related to Information Management and Technology.
• Administered Windows NT Server and Linux (Debian) systems.
• Designed and developed various databases.
• Sponsored through World University Services of Canada (WUSC).

System Administrator, University of Malawi
September 1997 – June 1998 ( 10 months)

• Initiated the Information Technology Strategic Plan for Chancellor College.
• Designed Network Topology for University of Malawi Automation Library Project.
• Systems Administrator for University of Malawi (UNIMA) National Email Project.
• Designed and developed a billing system for the UNIMA National Email Project.
• Technical advisor for various University of Malawi Information Technology projects.
• Assessed Internet Connectivity and implemented Internet Proxy Server and Email Server.
• Sponsored through World University Services of Canada (WUSC).

System Specialist – Division of Critical Care, Calgary Health Region
May 1993 – October 1997 (4 years 6 months)

• Project Leader for the ICU Clinical Information System (GE/Marquette Medical Systems).
• Established Strategic Partnership with Marquette Medical Systems 
• Interfaced patient bedside devices and legacy Health Information Systems using HL7.
• Designed and developed various database management systems involving the collation and analysis of clinical and financial information.
• Developed various programs in C, Foxpro and various health care scripting languages.
• Supported Windows NT Server 4.0, Solaris, Linux and OS/2 Operating Systems.
• Designed and supported critical care and workstation networks for the ICU. 
• Initiated discrete event simulation project to predict the effects of closing 4 out of 7 ICUs.
• Developed cost saving systems for various Hospital -Wide Quality and Utilization projects.
• Participated and advised various Information Technology and Regional committees.

Research Assistant, University of Calgary
May 1993 – October 1997 (4 years 6 months)

• Developed and maintained the Assessment of Preoperative Hemodynamic monitoring of High Risk Geriatric Surgical Patients database. MRC grant no: MA-11483

Cost Controller, Canadian Marine Drilling Ltd (Amoco Canada)
April 1991 – July 1991 ( 4 months)May 1989 – August 1989 ( 4 months)

• Employed aboard Drill Ship and Dry Docking Complex, Tuktoyaktuk, Beaufort Sea.
• Developed and maintained a computer system program to monitor and control daily costs relative to major million dollar capital projects on several ships.

External Websites
http://www.linkedin.com/in/deanyergens
http://www.healthcaresimulations.com/
http://www.synthesis.info

Dec 2001               HealthSim – Alberta Research Council ($20,000)
Dec 2001               Global Surveillance and Emergency Response System – Alberta Research Council ($20,000)
Nov 2004              Intelligent Systems Application Studies: Health Care Informatics – PRECARN Inc. ($24,230)
Apr 2006               Deriving Intelligent Information from Hospital Location Based Services – Alberta Innovation and Science ($30,000)
May 2006             Enhancing Planning for Medical Staffing in Zambia and Malawi – University of Calgary International Grants Committee ($9,000)
Nov 2006              Derived Intelligence Medical Messaging System (DIMMS) – University of Manitoba ($25,000)
May 2009             Tui’ kn Partnerskip Community Reporting Project – Tui’ kn Partnerskip ($30,000)
Sept 2009              Western Regional Training Centre – Health Services Research – Scholarship (2 years) ($37,000)
Mar 2010              University of Calgary Faculty of Graduate Studies Graduate Student Support ($3,000)
Sept 2011              Western Regional Training Centre – Health Services Research – Associate Scholarship  ($5,000)
Dec 2011               University of Calgary Faculty of Graduate Studies Graduate Student Support  ($2,500)
Dec 2011               Nvidia Academic Partnership Grant: Automated Epidemiological Analysis utilizing Nvidia Tesla Technology ($5,000 – hardware)
Feb 2012               Summer Program in Data Analysis 2012 (York University) – Bursary ($350)
May 2012             PIMS-MPrime-CDM Summer School on Disease Modeling of Infectious Diseases (University of Alberta) Studentship ($700)
May 2012             UseR! 2012 Conference – Student Travel Scholarship  ($500)
Jan 2013               Nvidia Academic Partnership Grant: Text Mining of Medical Data using  Nvidia Graphics Processing Units ($3,500 – hardware)
Feb 2013               The W21C/Brenda Strafford Foundation Chair in Geriatric Medicine Gerontechnology Grant – Automated Analysis of the CCHS
                                   examining Chronic Conditions in the Elderly  ($8,500)