Developing technology for health management
Since joining Global Research in January 2009 I have been working closely on our body composition projects with GE Healthcare Lunar, and Nestlé Research Center. Though I am an engineer by training, I have developed a keen interest in clinical research, obesity and metabolic diseases over the last few years. I think this is because I can absolutely relate to people who have trouble eating right or exercising (indeed I am among their ranks!).
Because obesity has only been emerging as a major public health problem in the last 20-30 years, there is sometimes a lag in technology and scientific understanding in this field. As a technologist on this project I get to work to change this both through direct interactions with clinicians and clinical investigators but also by working on developing new algorithms to make our technology give more meaningful information to users.
I have been incredibly fortunate in my short time at Global Research to be able to work with such a dynamic team at Global Research, GE Healthcare Lunar, and Nestlé Research Center. It seems to me to be a rare opportunity to be able to combine the imaging expertise at GE with the nutrition and wellness knowledge base at Nestlé. And, it is absolutely clear to me that we all have the same goal in mind – developing technologies that can make an impact on metabolic disease prevention.
Check out some of the other places where this research project has recently been focused. One of my colleagues, Fiona Ginty, worked to put together this piece for the Corporate Citizenship site and I recently was filmed talking about this project at our global TECHfest event. That video was just posted over at GE Reports today. Check it out!
