
Two Georgia State health informatics students have been named winners of the 2020 GA HIMSS David Cowan Scholarship. Maher Ahmed, undergraduate and Joyanna Carlisle, graduate student, are two of eight students statewide to receive the local chapter of the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS). John Milner, GA HIMSS student and professional development chair, noted that naming two recipients indicated the quality of students produced at Georgia State.
Dr. Cedric Truss, program director and clinical assistant professor of health informatics, said Georgia State is honored to have both undergraduate and graduate program students as recipients of the scholarship this year.
“The faculty encourages all of the students to be active with HIMSS and to utilize their complimentary student memberships provided by the health informatics program for scholarship and personal development opportunities,” he said.
Ahmed is a rising senior in the bachelor of interdisciplinary studies health informatics program. A former business development analyst and one-time medical student, he combined his past work experience, education and interests into his current major. Ahmed placed first in the Georgia State University 2019 Telehealth Shark Tank competition.
“I enjoy working with and influencing work cultures that use HRO, six sigma, and agile process tools,” Maher said. He is interested in alleviating public health disparities by leaning on innovative technology. “My goal is to provide diversity to executive leadership.”
Carlisle is a master of science in health sciences student in health informatics. She works as a mammography technologist at Emory Healthcare in Decatur and as an x-ray technologist at Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital. She is a graduate of graduate of Armstrong State University with a bachelor’s in radiologic sciences. After earning her master's degree, Carlisle plans to follow a career path focused on implementing patient-centered quality and safety policies.
“I am passionate about finding new innovative ways to improve the workflow in the healthcare environment. This includes from both the clinical and technological aspects,” she said.
A virtual celebration for all eight recipients and their department chairs is planned soon.