Today’s information technologies provide significant advancements for healthcare, from the ability to monitor insulin on your smartphone to robotic surgery. They also come with new risks—pacemakers and wearable medical devices that can be hacked, enhanced surveillance of physicians and pharmacists in the opioid crisis, and medical information collected by your smartphone. 

The newly launched Public Interest Technology (PIT@UMass) Initiative at UMass Amherst focuses on developing and realizing socially responsible solutions to challenges posed by ever-evolving technology.

Join PIT@UMass for a symposium on the benefits, risks, challenges and opportunities of technology-driven public health.

Our tech and health experts will discuss:

• the complexity and trade-offs of health monitoring and surveillance;
• data collection and privacy;
• and the evolution of tech devices used for health applications

4:00 p.m.	Opening Remarks
4:15 p.m.	Panel Discussion and Q&A
5:30 p.m.	End of Event

There is no cost to participate and all are welcome. Registrants are encouraged to submit questions for discussion upon registering; the panel will do their best to answer as many questions as possible in the time allotted.

Introduction:
Laura Haas, dean of the Robert and Donna Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences
Anna Maria Siega-Riz​, dean of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences

Moderators:
Fran Berman, director of public interest technology and Stuart Rice Research Professor, Robert and Donna Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences
Sarah Hutton, interim dean, UMass Amherst Libraries

Panelists:
Liz Evans, associate professor, health promotion and policy
Laura Quilter, copyright and information policy librarian
Tauhidur Rahman, assistant professor, computer and information sciences
John Sirard '91, '97 MS, associate professor, kinesiology

This event is presented by the Robert and Donna Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, and UMass Amherst Libraries in partnership with the UMass Amherst Alumni Association.

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Date & Location