Jerome R. Cox, Jr. - Home Page

Research Interests

Bringing computer technology to the most information rich profession, medicine, has been a career goal. This is because physicians need computers to make informed clinical decisions, but presently most physicians do not directly use computers. Except for an increasing set of special applications they find computers awkward to use and incapable of presenting the complete medical record. With present technology the primary care physician does not get back from a computer enough savings in time to overcome the investment he or she must make to use it. They find it easier to use a computer indirectly through nurses and technicians. Yet this indirect use fails to allow the physician to realize the great potential that exists for improved clinical decision making.

The solution to this problem lies in a combination of emerging database technology and revolutionary broadband communications technology. The combination of multirate data, CD quality audio, studio quality video and high-resolution images makes possible the electronic presentation of the complete medical record including x-rays and medical video. The technologies of database systems, image compression, multimedia, high-speed communication protocols and fast packet switching combine to make a practical and broadly useful medical doctor's workstation a reality within the next few years. A program of research aimed at the understanding and integration of these technologies toward this end is underway.

Journal Publications

Conference Papers

Patents

Education

• Sc.D. in Electrical Engineering -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1954)
• S.M. in Electrical Engineering -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1949)
• S.B. in Electrical Engineering -- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1947)

Academic Career Summary

The Harold B. and Adelaide G. Welge Professor of Computer Science 1989-1998; Director of ARL from 1991-1995; Chairman, Department of Computer Science 1975-1991; Professor of Computer Science 1975-1998; Senior Professor of Computer Science since 1999; Professor of Biomedicine, Institute for Biomedical Computing 1983-1998; Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering 1955-1958; Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering 1958-1961; Professor of Electrical Engineering 1961-1997; Professor of Biomedical Engineering in Physiology and Biophysics 1966-1999; Professor of Radiology 1986-1998.

Professional Activities and Honors

Memberships

National Academy of Science, Institute of Medicine; Acoustical Society of America (Fellow); Association for Computing Machinery; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (Fellow); American College of Medical Informatics (Fellow); St. Louis Academy of Science (Fellow); Eta Kappa Nu; Sigma Xi; Tau Beta Pi.

Editorial Boards

Applied Mathematics Letters, Computers and Biomedical Research

Advisory Roles

National Advisory Research Resources Committee, National Institutes of Health (1969-1971); Co-Chair, Computers in Cardiology, an annual international conference (1974-1988); Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1988-1992); Genome Data Base Scientific Advisory Committee, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (1989-1990); National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (1990-1995); Chair, Division of Computer Research and Technology (NIH) Board of Scientific Counselors (1993-1995); Advisory Committee to the Director (NIH) (1994-1995).

Honors

Distinguished Faculty Award, Washington University (1987); Willaim D. Phillips Award for Technology and Development, Economic Council of Saint Louis County (1995); Washington University Eliot Society Search Award (1997); Peter Raven Lifetime Achievement Award, St. Louis Academy of Science (2001); Honorary D.Sc., Washington University (2001)