CURRICULUME VITAE
Last Date Updated: 4/12/1999

Name: John Lester

Address: 302 Shawmut Ave, Apt. B, Boston, MA 02114

Place of Birth: New Bedford, MA

Education: 1989 B.S. Boston University

Postdoctoral Training: None

Licensure and Certification: None

Academic Appointments:
1996-present: Research Associate in Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Hospital Appointments:
1998-present: Information Systems Director, Department of Neurology, Mass. General Hospital
1993-1998: Computer Systems Specialist / Systems Engineer / Software Developer, Department of Neurology, Mass. General Hospital
1990-1993: Senior Research Technologist, Lab of Cellular Neurobiology, Mass. General Hospital

Other Professional Positions and Major Visiting Appointments:
1998-present: Information Systems Director, Partners Neurodegeneration Program
1997-present: Computer Supported Cooperative Work Consultant, Mind Brain Behavior Initiative, Harvard University
1996-present: Research Associate in Neurology, Harvard Medical School
1988-1989: Lab Manager, Dept. of Biology, Boston University

Awards and Honors:
1998: Partners HealthCare System, Inc., Excellence Award
1998: Invited Speaker and Presenter, Partnerships '98 - Partnerships for Networked Consumer Health Information (in conjunction with the Spring Congress of the American Medical Informatics Association), Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, May 27-29, Philadelphia, PA
1998: Invited Speaker and Presenter, Partnerships '98 - Partnerships for Networked Consumer Health Information, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, April 28, Washington, DC
1998: Invited Speaker and Workshop Presenter, 1998 Health Care Internet Symposium, Faulkner & Gray, March 29-31, Fort Lauderdale, FLA
1998: Invited Speaker, HDSA (Huntington's Disease Society of America) Leadership Conference, March 5-8, New Orleans, LA
1997: Partners HealthCare System, Inc., Excellence Award
1997: Invited Speaker, AHA (American Hospital Association) Orthopedics, Neurosciences, and Rehabilitation Services Conference, "Enterprise-Wide Internet Strategies," April 24-26, Boston Park Plaza, MA
1997: Invited Speaker, NEHA '97 (New England Healthcare Assembly), "Computer-Supported Methods of Enabling Patient Support Groups: A Review and Case Study," March 24-27, 1997, Boston, MA
1997: Invited Conference Chair, 1997 Health Care Internet Symposium, Faulkner & Gray, March 16-18, 1997, Tampa, FL
1997: Invited Speaker, HIMSS '97 (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society), "The Internet and Intranets:Tips from a Webmaster," February 16, 1997, San Diego, CA
1996: Invited Guest Author, "Resources for Neurology and Neuroscience on the World Wide Web," Molecular Medicine Today, Elsevier Trends Journals
1996: Executive Focus Interview, Health Data Management Magazine, Faulkner & Gray, June 1996, Vol. 4 / No. 7
1996: Invited Guest Presenter, Advanced Healthcare Online (International Business Communications), June 6-7, 1996, San Francisco, CA
1996: Invited Guest Presenter, The First Annual Symposium on Integrated Healthcare Information Systems (Integrated Healthcare Symposium), April 22-23, 1996, Palm Springs, CA.
1996: Invited Guest Speaker, The National Managed Health Care Congress (NMHCC): Healthcare Opportunities on the Internet and Online Services, April 18-19, 1996, Chicago, IL.
1996: Invited Guest Speaker, Health Care Internet Symposium, Faulkner & Gray, March 31 - April 2, 1996, Buttes Resort, Tempe AZ.
1995: Guest Speaker, Internet Medicine Conference, The International Quality & Productivity Center, Oct. 23 & 24, 1995, Chicago, IL.
1995: Chair, Workshop F: Webserver Applications for Hospitals and Medical Centers, 3rd International World Wide Web Conference, Darmstadt, Germany, April 1995.
1995: Electronic Publishing Consultant, Elsevier Publications.
1994: Webmaster, MGH Neurology World Wide Webserver (http://neuro-www.mgh.harvard.edu/), HospitalWeb (http://neuro-www.mgh.harvard.edu/hospitalweb.nclk)

Major Committee Assignments:
1998: Co-Chair, Harvard ABCD-WWW Committee
1997: Massachusetts Health Data Consortium, Inc., Webmaster Working Group
1997: Partners Healthcare Research Information Systems Task Force, Partners Healthcare System
1996: Chairman, Internet / World Wide Web Committee, Massachusetts General Hospital
1996: Partners Healthcare Internet Task Force, Partners Healthcare System
1995: Internet Security Task Force, Mass. General Hospital
1995: Webserver Publishing Task Force, Mass. General Hospital
1995: Electronic Medical Record Task Force, Mass. General Hospital
1994: Internet Connectivity/Networking Committee

Memberships, Offices, and Committee Assignments in Professional Societies:
1997: World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Advisory Committee Representative for Partners HealthCare System

Editorial Boards:
1999-present: Editorial Board, Praxis Press, Current Practice of Medicine
1994: Senior Editor, MGH Neurology Newsletter

Major Research Interests:
1) Integrating computers/networking and healthcare services.
2) Internet applications for primary caregivers and patient support.
3) World Wide Web research and development.
4) See research website for details of current research.

Research Funding Information: None

Principle Clinical and Hospital Service Responsibilities: None

Major Administrative Responsibilities:
1998-present: Information Systems Director, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital
1993- 1998: Computer Systems Specialist / Manager, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital

Self Report of Teaching: None

Recent Publications:
1999: Hoch DB, Norris D, Lester JE, Marcus AD. Information Exchange in an Epilepsy Forum on the World Wide Web. Seizure 1999 Feb;8(1):30-4
1998: Chapter, "Websites by Providers, Patients, and Caregivers - A Review," in the book "Patient Resources on the Internet - 1998 Guide for Health Care Professionals," Faulkner & Gray
1998: Norris D, Hoch DB, Lester JE, A Survey of Users of an Epilepsy-Specific Internet Forum, American Epilepsy Society (AES) Meeting, San Diego, CA
1998: Lester JE, Resources for Neurology and Neuroscience on the World Wide Web, Molecular Medicine Today, Elsevier Trends Journals, February
1998: Lester JE, Norris D, Hoch DB, Demonstration of Patient Support using the World Wide Web, Demonstration Paper, Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) 1998 Meeting, Seattle, WA
1997: Hoch DB, Lester JE, Norris D, Information Flow in an Electronic Epilepsy Support Group, 22nd International Epilepsy Congress, Dublin, Ireland, 1997

For the latest presentation/talks/papers online, please see http://neuro-oas.mgh.harvard.edu/cscw98/

Biosketch: John Lester

John Lester is the Information Systems Director for the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital (http://neuro-www.mgh.harvard.edu) and the Partners Neurodegeneration Program (http://www.neurodegeneration.org), as well as a consultant with the Mind-Brain-Behavior Initiative at Harvard University (http://mbb.harvard.edu) on collaborative computing technology. He has a bachelors degree in Biology and has worked in neurodegeneration research at Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition, Mr. Lester is a Research Associate with Harvard Medical School and currently conducts research and development of Internet-based tools for assisting patient-physician interactions within the Department of Neurology at MGH. He has also been involved in the development and ongoing evolution of web-based projects at Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as working with national patient support organizations to design and implement Internet strategies and web-based resources. As the Chairman of the MGH WWW Committee, he helps direct the use of web-based technology across the institution, and serves on the Advisory Committee of the World Wide Web Consortium (http://www.w3.org/), representing Partners HealthCare System (http://www.partners.org/).

Mr. Lester has designed and manages over 100 neurology-specific electronic interactive environments, including web-based discussion forums and real-time chatrooms, and is constantly exploring new technology and methodologies for online interactions between people. He frequently gives presentations at Healthcare and Technology conferences on topics involving enterprise-wide Internet strategies in healthcare environments. His research interests include healthcare information design, systems security and integration, digital imaging analysis, online electronic patient support group communities, the use of PDAs (portable digital assistants) in a medical education environment, computer supported methods of assisting patients and caregivers worldwide, and helping people use computer technology in creative ways to solve healthcare problems. For his personal homepage please see http://neuro-www.mgh.harvard.edu/me.html