Objective:

Seeking to pursue a challenging position in the field of healthcare informatics
that focuses on research, development and implementation of clinical information
systems. My main area of interest lies in design and architecture of electronic
health records, developing clinical decision support and expert systems,
information modeling and developing ontologies/terminologies, evidence based
practices and knowledge representation. I am interested in developing and
implementing effective clinical systems and applications that will reduce cost
and help streamline the process of delivering healthcare. 

Professional Summary:

Trained as dental surgeon and computer scientist, I chose to develop expertise
in the field of biomedical informatics to deal with the several ongoing
challenges that healthcare is facing. In my current role as a visiting scholar,
my main focus is on projects that utilize information technology in the field of
dentistry. My responsibilities include developing clinical datasets, data
modeling and information modeling, clinical database design, clinical systems
design and architecture and preparation and review of manuscripts. 

Education:

PhD in Biomedical Informatics Jan 2005-present 
University Of Medicine and Dentistry at New Jersey, Newark, NJ
 Expected graduation date: Summer 2009
 Tracks: Clinical Decision Support System
Biomedical Imaging & Image Analysis
 Dissertation topic: 'Development of an Electronic Dental Record Information
Model for General Dentistry'

Master of Science in Computer Science Aug 2001-Dec 2004
Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY

Residency in Dental Surgery Dec 1998-Dec 1999
Government Dental College (Victoria Hospital), Bangalore, India
Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, Bangalore, India
Sanjay Gandhi Trauma Center, Bangalore, India
K.C. General Hospital, Bangalore, India

Bachelor of Dental Surgery Dec 1994-Dec 1999
Government Dental College, Bangalore, India


Professional Experience:

Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, PA . 
Visiting Scholar, School of Medicine Oct. ‘06 – present
• Driving the development of an American national reference standard for the
Electronic Dental Record Information Model in collaboration with American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) and American Dental Association’s Standard
Committee on Dental Informatics (ADA-SCDI)– ANSI/ADA Specification No. 1053.
• Spearheaded the development of a comprehensive list of structured data
elements that could be leveraged by software vendors for user interface and
database design of electronic dental records. This was achieved through a content
review study of dental records maintained by a diverse group of general dentists
in the U.S.
• Contributed to several ongoing projects at the Center for Dental Informatics
(CDI), including but not limited to:
o Cognitive task analysis of dentists during decision making and treatment
planning
o Three-dimensional charting interface for general dentistry
o Prototype user testing of an electronic dental record UI design developed by
the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
o Pilot project linking the interface between information model and
ontology-terminology model using principals of data modeling 
o Involved in the development of the use case and system design of the Contact
Management System being designed at the CDI
o Dental patient educational software review 
o Development of technical notes for applications used at the center 

Department of Medical Imaging, UMDNJ, Newark, New Jersey . 
Graduate Assistant, School of Health Related Professionals Jul. ‘05–Sep. ‘06
• Lead the creation of web-based educational materials for an undergraduate
certificate program in PACS Administration.
• Designed and developed the CD based workshops that was part of the certificate
program.
• Designed the layout, input didactic material for the WebCT courses, and
designed the website for the program.
• All of these activities were performed under the direction of the Curriculum
Development/Instructional Design Department (CD/ID) of SHRP-UMDNJ.

Vignesh Poly Clinic, Bangalore, India .
Dental Surgeon, Private Medical Center Dec. ‘99 – Dec.’00
• Successfully performed a broad range of procedures in restorative dentistry,
endodontics, prosthodontics, periodontics and varied dental surgeries.
• Established a diverse and growing clientele.

Sanjay Gandhi Trauma Center, Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital Victoria Hospital
and K.C. General Hospital, Bangalore, India . 
Residency in Dental Surgery Dec. ’98 – Dec.’99
• The purpose of the residency program was to impart practical instruction and
clinical educational experiences in modern dentistry keeping in mind the dental
health needs of the society.
• Developed skill and acquired clinical knowledge with proficiency in managing
dental patients independently.

Skills:

Operating Systems: MS-DOS, UNIX Version 4, Windows 95/ NT 4.0/ 2000;
Programming Languages: C, C++, Java, PL/SQL, Prolog, SNOBOL, Lisp, Gforth,
QBASIC;
RDBMS: MySQL, MS Access;
Scripting/Web: VBscript, JavaScript, J2EE Framework - Servlets, JSP, JStruts
HTML, XML, Dreamweaver Version 4;
Applications: MATLAB 7.0 (Image Processing Toolbox), Exsys Corvid 3.2.1,
Camtasia Studio 3.0.0, DicomWorks 1.3.5, SEER Stat 6.1.4, Joinpoint 3.0, KinetDX
Standalone PACS, Visual Studio C++, Dreamweaver 4, MS Office Suite, Adobe
Fireworks;

Professional Membership:

Member, American Dental Association 2008-present
Member, American Dental Education Association 2008-present
Member, American Medical Informatics Association 2006-present
Member, IEEE Computer Society 2006-present
Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 2006-present
International Medical Informatics Association's WG 11 2006-present
ADA SCDI Subcommittee 11.7 on General Dental EHR Information Model 2006-present
Member, Gamma Beta Phi Society, WKU, KY 2004-2005
Dental License, Karnataka Dental Council India 1999-2001

Professional Activities:

• Acharya A, Mital DP and Schleyer TK. ‘Electronic Dental Record Information
Model (EDRIM)’. Submitted to International Journal of Medical Engineering and
Informatics (IJMEI), August 2008;
• Co-author of a R21 grant proposal ‘A Standard Information Model for General
Dental records’ submitted to National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial
Research (NIDCR), July 2008, Initial score of 180;
• Attended Evidence Based Dentistry’s Champion Conference in Chicago, May,
2008;
• Wali T, Acharya A, Thyvalikakath TP and Schleyer TK. Comparative study of
reviewing patient records: preliminary results. AADR 37th Annual Meeting. Dallas,
TX, April 3-5, 2008;
• Acharya A, Wali T, Thyvalikakath TP and Schleyer TKL. Content review of dental
records: a pilot study. 2008 ADEA Annual Session. Dallas, TX, Mar 29–Apr 2,
2008;
• Reviewer, Journal of American Dental Education Association, 2008;
• Completed the Grants 101:Professional Grant Proposal Writing held at Carnegie
Mellon University, May 2007;
• Torres-Urquidy MH, Acharya A, Hernandez P, Misner J and Schleyer TK,
‘Evaluating the Effectiveness of Modeling Principles for Data Models, Accepted
for conference presentation for Information Technology and Communications in
Health (ITCH) to be held in Victoria, British Columbia from February 19-22,
2009.

References:

Dr. Titus Schleyer, D.M.D, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Director of Center for Dental Informatics
School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
Phone: [Send email to request phone number] 48.8885 | Email: 
 Dr. Heiko Spallek, D.M.D, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Center for Dental Informatics
School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
Phone: [Send email to request phone number] 48.8882 | Email: 
Dr. Dinesh Mital, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Health Informatics Department
School of Health Related Professions, UMDNJ
Phone: 973.972.5241 | Email: 
Dr. Syed Haque, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of Health Informatics Department
School of Health Related Professions, UMDNJ
Phone: 973.972.6871 | Email: