Past Scholarship Winners

 

 2024: Matthew Schaefer

 

 

 

Matthew Schaefer is a 4^th year MD/MBA student at FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Before this, he received a Bachelor of Science in Coastal Environmental Science from Louisiana State University and a Master of Science in Public Health from Harvard University. At Harvard, he worked as a researcher for the Sustainability and Health Initiative for NetPositive Enterprise (SHINE) and was an executive council member for the Harvard Graduate Council. Outside of medicine and academia, he was the Boston Red Sox Mascot for the 2017 and 2018 seasons after being the LSU mascot during college.

Throughout his academic and professional experience, he always valued integrating technological advancements with his healthcare endeavors. For example, while at Harvard, he conducted a large-scale research project monitoring health vitals using Apple and Fitbit watches. He used this data to model health outcomes for flight attendants. His long-term goal is integrating technological advancements as a neurosurgeon to improve patient care and bridge medicine, innovation, and health information systems.

 2023: Riley Shurack

 

 

 

 

Riley Shurack, MPH is a Master’s student in Health Informatics & Analytics at Florida International University. She also holds a Master of Public Health and a Bachelor’s in Health Sciences. 

Currently, Riley is interning with the South Florida Community Care Network ("Community Care Plan") as a Quality Analyst. Before entering the healthcare technology arena, Riley was an academic research coordinator on community-based health promotion programs for children and adults with autism spectrum disorder, having published in leading scientific journals and presenting at local and national conferences. She also helped establish her MPH alma mater as a World Health Organization Collaboration Center for Environmental & Occupational Health.

Riley is a proud SFLHIMSS member. She serves as the South Florida HIMSS Administrative Assistant and a Committee Member of the SFLHIMSS Mentorship Program, having been inspired by the program's excellence when she was a mentee. This scholarship will help her continue to leverage her skills in data analysis and reporting and explore other interests in healthcare technology including project management and interoperability standards. She hopes to educate and bring awareness about public health/community health informatics and population health analytics to the SFLHIMSS community.

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  2022: Roseanne Alhindi

 

 

 

 

Roseanne Alhindi is completing her Ph.D. in Information Systems at Nova Southeastern University. She received a M.S. in Biomedical Informatics and a B.S. in Biology, and her current research interests include health informatics, healthcare technology, human-computer interaction, and electronic health records systems. She believes that leveraging information and technology in healthcare can significantly enhance the quality of care. This scholarship has motivated her to work harder and gain professional skills to apply to her career. This award helped her financially and inspired her to do more for her education, such as attending many SFLHIMSS events, meeting health IT professionals, and participating in the mentor-mentee program. 

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