From the University of Waterloo, Canada, Professor Catherine Burns, Dr Moses Tetui, and Ryan Tennant will discuss their research into the complexities of mass Covid-19 vaccination clinics that combined multidisciplinary teams working within nonclinical environments.

Catherine shares why this is important for human factors as a field, and why this is interesting research. Catherine will also be a keynote speaker at the 2024 HFESA Conference in Brisbane. Ryan will focus on experiences in reacting to a community driven human factors problem.  His efforts to understand the problem, immersing directly in the situation to deepen his understanding, resulting design and outcomes.  Some thoughts on what the work meant for him in his development as a Human Factors Researcher. Moses will bring his perspective as a health systems researcher with a focus on building systems that are responsive to the needs of vulnerable populations.  He will connect his perspective to Ryan’s work and what this perspective can add to human factors research.  He will discuss his own research directions that were part of the same project he conducted with Ryan.

Catherine Burns

Catherine M. Burns is Professor in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Canada and Associate Vice President, Health Initiatives at the Office of Research at the University of Waterloo.  In her past administrative roles she has been engaged with institutional and tri agency funding programs, research partnerships, Waterloo’s equity in research action plan, and research computing.  Catherine was the founder of the Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology at Waterloo and led the centre from a faculty to an institutional centre over 8 years. In 2020 she chaired Waterloo’s Health Initiatives Task force to develop a health strategy in response to Waterloo’s 2025 Strategic Plan.  In her role as AVP, Health Initiatives she is responsible for advancing Waterloo research in health and health technology.  Catherine holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Human Factors and Healthcare Systems, has contributed over 300 publications and is the co-author of seven books and the PI on an NSERC CREATE Training program in biomedical technology and entrepreneurship which has trained over 40 graduate students from various faculties across campus.

Catherine is well known for her work in Cognitive Work Analysis, Ecological Interface Design and the development of decision support systems.  She is a Fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Catherine’s recent research projects have been exploring the design of early warning systems for the detection of sepsis, the design of predictive diagnostic systems for glaucoma detection, and clinician driven tools for dementia assessment.

Moses Tetui

Dr. Moses Tetui holds affiliations with both university of Waterloo in Canada (Assistant Research professor) and Umeå University in Sweden (associate professor). He is a health systems researcher with over 15 years of experiences. Dr. Tetui’s work focuses on building responsive health systems that address the needs of vulnerable and underserved populations in both rural and urban settings, with a particular emphasis on situations of social injustice.

Currently, Dr. Tetui is working on several critical projects, including building confidence in vaccines, such as COVID-19 and HPV vaccines, in Canada. In collaboration with Makerere University School of Public Health in Uganda, he is also assessing the impact of COVID-19 on women’s livelihoods in Uganda and its relation to their vulnerability to HIV infection. In the past he has worked on projects to strengthen access to contraceptives, maternal and neonatal health services, strengthen health management capacity and knowledge translation to mention a few.

Furthermore, Dr. Tetui is working with five African public health institutions and Umeå University in Sweden to advance the conceptualization and strengthening of community health systems. His work is guided by a strong commitment to inclusiveness, equality, and equity, and he employs inclusive and participatory research methods to ensure that diverse voices are heard.

In the immediate future, Dr. Tetui’s work will focus on collaboratively building climate change adaptations in African cities, including Kampala in Uganda, Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, and Freetown in Sierra Leone.

Ryan Tennant

Ryan Tennant is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Master’s in Systems Design Engineering, both from Waterloo. Ryan’s research is primarily in the fields of healthcare, medical, and military systems, applying cognitive engineering methods to design digital information technologies and interfaces that support complex decision-making processes. Ryan holds a Canada Graduate Scholarship from Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Engineering Excellence Doctoral Fellowship from the University of Waterloo.

Date & Time

Monday 30th Sept 2024

19:00 – 20:30 EDT – Uni of Waterloo, Canada

Tuesday 1st Oct 2024

08:00 – 09:30         WA

08:30 – 10:00         SA / NT

09:00 – 10:30         Qld / NSW / Vic / Tas

12:00 – 13.30         New Zealand

Published journal

https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2022/4/e39670/

Understanding Human Factors Challenges on the Front Lines of Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics: Human Systems Modeling Study

Ryan Tennant, Moses Tetui, Kelly Grindrod, Catherine M Burns

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9963920

Multi-Disciplinary Design and Implementation of a Mass Vaccination Clinic Mobile Application to Support Decision-Making

Ryan Tennant; Moses Tetui; Kelly Grindrod; Catherine M Burns

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