Dear Test, 

Hello to all members of the DHIN and a special welcome to all new members who have recently joined us. The network has grown to include more than 950 members and about half are from academic institutions and half are friends and colleagues in practice and the community. 

If you missed the recent announcement from the Faculty of Medicine and Health, the DHIN was named as one of the 12 official FMH networks that will receive resources and support from a team of professional staff in the faculty.  

For those of you who haven’t met me already, I am the Director of Biomedical Informatics and Digital Health at The University of Sydney, and I am now also the Convener of the DHIN. A special thank you to Heiko Spallek, who would normally be writing to you for this newsletter. Heiko and an Advisory Team will continue to guide the network and all the things we do as we move into this new phase of the DHIN. 

I am excited about the activities we have planned for the DHIN. We will continue with the successful Seminar Series, which happens every four weeks on Tuesdays and all members of the network are invited to come and watch. I am looking forward to expanding Digital Health Week, which has been a signature event here at the University of Sydney for a number of years, and to teaming up with the University of Melbourne and other universities across Australia. We will also be working with you to update the way DHIN profiles look and make it easier for people to find each other based on their expertise and interests. 

In the meantime, I encourage all of you to log in to the DHIN website and update your profile. This is the best way for people to find you, and for you to find them. It is an excellent place to find new collaborators. 

Best wishes, 

Adam 

Associate Professor Adam Dunn
Director of Biomedical Informatics and Digital Health

---

For news and updates on COVID-19, please visit the NSW Health latest update pages. To keep up-to-date on the impacts of COVID-19 on staff, please refer to the latest updates from the University. Students can find the latest information on the University website.

Social distancing policies imposed in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to significant deterioration in mental health in general populations around the world. Meanwhile, attempts to keep people indoors have resulted in a surge in the uptake of video games as a means to pass time, socialise, and cope. Despite mainstream media concerns, Dr Kathleen Yin’s team have conducted an international study at the height of the pandemic that revealed the world was using video games to re-establish normalcy, maintain exercise, sustain social connections, and (sometimes literally) keeping themselves sane.

Date: Tuesday 17th August
Time: 11am-12pm
Register for this webinar

An update on some of the papers, projects, news, and events from the Biomedical Informatics and Digital Health Theme. 

Exciting news about two offerings from the University of Sydney.

New Master of Digital Health and Data Science (MDHDS)
Healthcare is on the cusp of a major digital transformation through big data, machine learning, and computation. A new generation of health practitioners will need to work with technology and data science experts to create our digital health future. The new Master of Digital Health and Data Science (MDHDS) is a postgraduate degree designed to elevate your potential to work in the emerging industry built at the intersection of digital health and data science. This degree brings the domain expertise from Biomedical Informatics and Digital Health at the Faculty of Medicine and Health, and from the School of Computer Science at the Faculty of Engineering, at the University of Sydney. Together, we are delivering a unique degree to educate the next generation of professionals. You can find more information about the course here. MDHDS inquiries should be directed to Computer Science Postgraduate Education by contacting:  cs_postgraduate@sydney.edu.au or dh.education@sydney.edu.au

Digital Health Essentials: enhancing multidisciplinary patient care
Co-Program Director of MDHDS from FMH, Dr. Audrey P Wang is also running a 6-week online course on Digital Health Essentials: enhancing multidisciplinary patient care, with a weekly live online session. Participants will explore the theory behind applications of digital health technologies in clinical practice from pre-clinical to policy translation exemplars, and the ethics of artificial intelligence in health. There is a specific focus on pragmatically maximising the benefits of digital health technologies to the clinician, patient/client and health system in complex clinical and social environments, in Australia but applicable to similar issues found worldwide. The inaugural micro-credential course (subject to satisfactory assessment) attracts a digital badge. For further details and enrolments enquiries, please email Feargal O’Farrell: sales@inaltor.net – the first course starts the week of the 20th Sept 2021.

A recording of the Research translation through connecting and working with industry webinar is now available. Please click on the video above to access the full talk. The webinar, organised by the Digital Health ECR Community discusses the opportunities and challenges associated with connecting and working with industry, the importance of and the path to research translation, and provides tips on how to effectively connect with industry professionals and partners.

Highlights from the first Digital Health Week event! The week served as a showcase of the innovative work being undertaken in digital health across the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, and beyond. This highlights reel showcases some of the conversations and interactions we had across Digital Health Week 2021, and how we pushed the boundaries of what it means to be a digital event.

Melbourne and Sydney will be back hosting Digital Health Week in 2022! 
Please mark Monday 14th - 17th February 2022 in your calendars.