Contact information
Email: plinio.morita@uwaterloo.ca
Phone: 519-888-4567 ext.31372
Location: B.C. Matthews Hall (BMH) 3733
Associate Professor, School of Public Health Sciences
J.W. Graham Information Technology Emerging Leader Chair in Applied Health Informatics
Cross Appointment with the Department of Systems Design Engineering
Assistant Professor (status only), Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto
Research Scientist, Research Institute for Aging, University of Waterloo
Research interests
As the Director of the Ubiquitous Health Technology Lab (UbiLab), I have focused my research on remote patient monitoring (RPM) technologies to be used to prevent unnecessary visits to hospitals and drive our healthcare system towards community care and telehealth. The current state of the technology limits how clinicians can use data collected from RPM tools, as the quality, frequency, and reliability of the data is normally lower than clinical standards.
The UbiLab will expand the area of remote patient monitoring, developing wearables and sensor technology that not only can satisfy clinical requirements, but also provide meaningful use for the large amount of data usually collected through RPM technology. Our work focuses on identifying how Internet of Things (IoT) sensory data can be integrated and presented to clinicians through meaningful scores and visualizations.
In a nutshell, my research interests are in the area of mHealth and wearable technology design, ubiquitous sensors for smart homes, usage data and health data analytics, and technology for aging. All technologies that will help us live longer independent lives. For the complete CV, see below.
Graduate supervision and student opportunities
I am currently accepting applications from graduate students with related research interests:
- mHealth and wearable technology design
- Ubiquitous sensors for smart homes
- Usage data and health data analytics
- Technology for aging
Teaching interests
- Health informatics
- eHealth and mHealth design
- Remote patient monitoring and telehealth
- Qualitative methods
- User-centered design
- Human factors methods
Education
BEng Electrical Engineering (University of Campinas, Brazil)
MSc Biomedical Engineering (University of Campinas, Brazil)
PhD Systems Design Engineering (University of Waterloo)
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Healthcare Human Factors (Techna Institute, University Health Network)
Selected publications
See Google Scholar for full list of publications.
Morita, P.P., Weinstein, P.B., Flewwelling, C.J., Bañez, C.A., Chiu, T.A., Iannuzzi, M., Patel A.H., Shier, A.P., and Cafazzo, J.A. (2016). The usability of ventilators: A comparative evaluation of safety and user experience. Critical Care.
Morita, P.P., and Cafazzo, J.A. (2016). Challenges and Paradoxes of Human Factors in Health Technology Design. JMIR Journal of Human Factors, 3(1), e11.
Weinstein, P., Kurahashi, A., Jamieson, T., Stinson, Cafazzo, J.A., Lokuge, B., Morita, P.P., Coehn, E., Goldman, R., Bezjak, A., and Hussain, A. (2016). In the Loop: The Organization of Team-Based Communication in a Patient-Centered Clinical Collaboration System. JMIR Journal of Human Factors, 3(1), e12.
Goyal, S., Morita, P.P., Picton, P., Zbib, A., Seto, E., and Cafazzo, J.A. (2016). Uptake of a Consumer-Focused mHealth Application for the Assessment and Prevention of Heart Disease. JMIR mHealth uHealth, 4(1), e32.
Uddin, A., Morita, P.P., Tallevi, K., Armor, K., Li, John, Nolan, R., and Cafazzo, J.A. (2016). Development of a mHealth System for Behavioural Neurcardiac Training. JMIR mHealth uHealth, 4(2), e45.
Herlihey, T.A., Gelmi, S., Flewwelling, C.J., Hall, T.N.T., Bañez, C., Morita, P.P., Beverley, P., Cafazzo, J.A., and Hota, S. (2016). On Selecting Personal Protective Equipment for Ebola Infectious Disease Preparedness: A Human Factors Evaluation. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
Goyal, S., Morita, P.P., Lewis, G., Yu, C., Seto, E., and Cafazzo, J.A. (2016). The Systematic Design of a Behavioural Mobile Health Application for the Self-Management of Type 2 Diabetes. Canadian Journal of Diabetes, 40(1), 95-104.
Professional activities and networks
- COACH: Canada's Health Informatics Association
- Editor of the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JHF and JMIR uHealth and mHealth)
- Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
- IEC/SCC SyC Active Assisted Living, Standards Council of Canada
- Professional Engineer, Professional Engineers of Ontario