The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) is pleased to announce Dr. Suzanne Bakken as the recipient of the 2019 IMIA François Grémy Award of Excellence.  IMIA is honoured to recognize the long-lasting contributions Dr. Bakken made through her research, education, development, and application of Biomedical and Nursing informatics and for her outstanding lifetime personal commitment and dedication to the field, both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Christoph Lehmann, the President of IMIA, will present the François Grémy Award of Excellence on Monday, August 25th at the opening ceremonies of MedInfo 2019 in Lyon, France.  “It is a momentous occasion for IMIA to recognize Suzanne Bakken as the 2019 recipient of the François Grémy award.”, said Dr. Lehmann.  “Dr. Bakken’s tremendous contributions to science and education have made her a leader in our field. Just as importantly however, honoring Dr. Bakken highlights the importance of nursing informatics to the international community and the International Medical Informatics Association.”

Dr. Bakken is the Alumni Professor of Nursing and Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University where she leads an NIH-funded research center and training program.   Her research is focused on promoting health and reducing health disparities in underserved populations through application of innovative informatics methods. A major focus of her current grant portfolio is visualization of healthcare data for community members, patients, clinicians, and community-based organizations.

Dr. Bakken is a Fellow and Past-President of the American College of Medical Informatics, a member of the National Academy of Medicine, an inaugural Fellow of IMIA’s International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics, to name but a few of the many prestigious professional bodies she is involved with.  She has published over 200 peer reviewed papers and in 2019, she took the helm as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be the first nurse and 10th recipient of the François Grémy Award of Excellence. IMIA NI is a vibrant component of the IMIA community with a history of leadership. Participation in IMIA and IMIA NI has enriched my career in biomedical and health informatics for more than 30 years.” said Dr. Bakken.  “It is particularly special to be receiving this award in Professor Grémy’s home country of France and at a time when our field is increasing called upon to advance health and health equity through informatics.”

About the IMIA François Grémy Award of Excellence
The IMIA Medical Informatics Award of Excellence was orginally established in 2001.  In 2015, the award was renamed the IMIA François Grémy Award of Excellence, to honour Dr. François Grémy for his foundational work in the establishment of IMIA and its predecessors, and his lifelong contribution to health and biomedical informatics in his home country of France, Europe, and the world.
The recipient of this Medical Informatics Award of Excellence is an individual whose personal commitment and dedication to medical informatics has made a lasting contribution to medicine and healthcare through her or his achievements in research, education, development, or application in the field of medical informatics.
For more information visit: imia-medinfo.org/wp/imia-award-of-excellence/

About IMIA
IMIA is the world body for health and biomedical informatics committed to promoting best practice in the use of information and communication technologies within Medical, Biomedical, and Health Informatics.  As an ‘association of associations’, IMIA provides leadership and expertise to the multidisciplinary, health focused community and to policy makers to enable the transformation of healthcare in accord with the world-wide vision of improving the health of the world population.
The IMIA Nursing Informatics Special Interest Group (IMIA NI) fosters collaboration among nurses and others who are interested in Nursing Informatics to facilitate development in the field.  Their mandate is to share knowledge, experience, and ideas with nurses and healthcare providers worldwide about the practice of Nursing Informatics and the benefits of enhanced information management.
For more information on IMIA and IMIA NI visit: http://www.imia.org

About MedInfo2019
MedInfo is the premier international health and biomedical informatics event. MedInfo 2019, hosted by The French Medical Informatics Association (AIM) on behalf of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) in Lyon, France from August 25 – 30, 2019.
For more Information about MedInfo 2019 visit: medinfo-lyon.org/en/

IMIA Contact : Elaine Huesing, Interim CEO, IMIA
imia@imia-services.org ; 780.489.4521