Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics

Contact Info:

Research Interests

Monaco's research interests include consumer health informatics and user-centered design. Current projects focus on improving patient access to cancer clinical trial information, assisting low-literacy populations with online health searches, and evaluating patient understanding of the online test results presented in personal health records.

Education

PhD, Indiana Univesity, Bloomington, IN
MHCI, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Publications

Irwin JY, Torres-Urquidy MH, Schleyer T, Monaco V. A Preliminary Model of Work During Initial Examination and Treatment Planning Appointments. British Dental Journal (In press).

Scotch M, Parmanto B, Monaco V. Summative Evaluation of SOVAT: An OLAP-GIS decision support system for community health assessment research. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2008 Jun 9;8(1):22. PMCID:PMC2438346

Thyvalikakath T, Monaco V, Thambuganipalle HB, Schleyer T. Usability evaluation of four commercial dental computer-based patient records. J Am Dent Assoc. (In press)

Scotch M, Parmanto B, Monaco V. Usability Evaluation of the Spatial OLAP Visualization and Analysis Tool (SOVAT). Journal of Usability Studies, Volume 2, Issue 2 , February 2007, pp. 76-95.

Thyvalikakath T, Schleyer T, Monaco V. Heuristic evaluation of clinical functions in four practice management systems. J Am Dent Assoc. 2007 Feb;138(2):209-10, 212-8. PMID:17272376 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Birru MS, Monaco V, Charles L, Drew H, Njie V, Bierria T, Detlefsen E, Steinman RA. Internet usage by low-literacy adults seeking health information: An observational analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research 204;6(3):e25. PMCID:PMC1550604

Monaco V. Dissemination of information on legislative mandates and consensus-based programs addressing payment of the costs of routine care in clinical trials through the World Wide Web. Cancer. 2004 Dec 1;101(11):2709-10. PMID:15382087[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE].

Monaco V, Krills SK. On-line information about cancer clinical trials: evaluating the Web sites of comprehensive cancer centers. AMIA Annual Symp Proc. 2003;:470-4. PMCID: PMC1480289

Blechner M, Monaco V, Knox I, Crowley RS. Using contextual design to identify potential innovations for problem based learning. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2003;:91-5. PMCID:PMC1479946

Proceedings of Conference and Symposia

Monaco V, Patel J. Supporting the Work of Rounding: An Analysis of Paper-based Rounding Templates from Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Proc AMIA Symp 2008 (In press)

Monaco V, Jacobs SA, Arnold AM, Simon MB. Providing PDA-Based Clinical Trial Listings to Oncologists. Proc AMIA Symp 2005: 1056. PMCID:PMC1560838

Monaco V, Krills SK. Online information about cancer clinical trials: Evaluating the Web sites of comprehensive cancer centers. Proc AMIA Symp 2003:470-474. PMCID: PMC1480289

Blechner M, Monaco V, Knox I, Crowley RS. Using contextual design to identify potential innovations for problem based learning. Proc AMIA Symp 2003:91-95. PMCID: PMC1479946

Grants

1R21LM008565-01
Title: A Reading Level Evaluation Engine for E-Health Resources
Role/effort: Principal Investigator Years Inclusive: 2005-2009 Source:NIH/NLM

The objective of this grant is to implement and evaluate a system designed to enhance search results for online health queries by providing reading level information and quality indicators for the highest ranked pages.

BCTR113506
Title: Understanding Adjuvant Therapy and Clinical Trials: An Evaluation of an Online Synthetic Interview for Breast Cancer Patients
Role/effort: Principal Investigator Years Inclusive: 2006-2008 Source:Komen Foundation

The objective of this grant is to evaluate the effectiveness of an online Synthetic Interview about clinical trials.

1 U54 RR023506 (Reis)
Title: A Reading Level Evaluation Engine for E-Health Resources
Role/effort: Co-Investigator Years Inclusive: 2006-2011 Source:NIH/NCRR

The goal of CCTI in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at the University of Pittsburgh is to utilize biomedical informatics to maximize efficient information management and ensure data integration at each step in the "lifecycle" of clinical and translational research projects. This will first be accomplished locally by developing open source tools to allow our extensive University-based research community to more effectively share and utilize research data. These tools will then be connected via grid computing and shared with other Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) sites nationally. This transformation will be tightly coupled to a comprehensive plan for educating researchers about the utility and value of these tools throughout the lifecycle of clinical and translational research.

#94125DBS47-TO#2
Title: National Cancer Institute Documentation and Training Workspace Cancer BioMedical Informatics Grid (caBIG)
Role/effort:Training and Documentation Workspace Principal Investigator
Years Inclusive: 2008-2009
Source:Subcontract with Booz Allen Hamilton

The objective of this project is to provide mentoring services to those developing caBIG documentation and training; provide reviews of documentation and training materials; create and update templates for participants to use in developing outreach materials, documentation, and training modules about caBIG and its goals, structure, processes and practices. Create and evolve new documentation and training formats, templates, and delivery strategies as the workspace evolves. Named investigator is a faculty member of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute caBIG project team.

Lab Personnel:

Eleanor Shirley - Research Assistant