Name Ruth Dayhoff | ||
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Ruth dayhoff
Ruth Dayhoff (born 1952) is an American physician and medical bioinformatician. Dayhoff is at the forefront of the bioinformatics movement.
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Early life
Dayhoff is the daughter of Dr. Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, another early bioinformatician. From a young age, Dayhoff was encouraged by her mother to pursue scientific interests. In Dayhoff's words:
My mother was a science professor in a medical school and convinced me that I had to understand not only what physicians knew, but also how they worked and made decisions. I had always thought that computers would be important to the future of medicine and biology. I was interested in all of these areas as I was growing up, and I had a choice whether to study computer science or go to medical school. So I decided to go to medical school to better understand not only the treatment of patients but the actions and knowledge of physicians.
Education
Dayhoff complete her undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland. During her undergraduate career, she majored in mathematics. Dayhoff graduated in 1973, earning the highest honors. She went on to attend medical school at Georgetown University School of Medicine and graduated in 1977. During her time at Georgetown, she began to pursue informatics. Dayhoff completed her second residency in 1980 at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she studied clinical pathology and gave special attention to Laboratory Information Systems.
Career
Dayhoff has held high-ranking positions in the US Department of Veterans Affairs' VistA Imaging Project since 1989. She currently serves as the national projects manager. As national projects manager, she supervises the integration of old patient records with the VA computerized system for patient records. This growing database of patient records is one of a kind on a global scale and has received much acclaim and recognition. This system is currently implemented at the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where it has been running for ten years, and at over fifty more medical institutions.
Personal life
Dayhoff is married with two daughters. She has said that her husband, Vincent Brannigan, has provided invaluable support throughout the years by sharing household responsibilities. Dayhoff's husband has taken an active role in learning about Dayhoff's career and has also written about ethical issues and bioinformatics.