This work has bridged computer science principles with biomedical problems and has contributed to the training of at least 25 graduate students since 1998. It has provided hands-on experience to many undergraduates, who developed interactive tools for analysis and visualization of complex biomedical processes (e.g., the TROI system was developed in an M.S. thesis and later extended twice by undergraduates).
These projects served as a means of transferring solutions to real-world problems into the hands of the clinical and healthcare specialists who introduced their problems. They led to funding for an NSF grant, IDM 0083423 (5/1/2001-4/30/2004) with Makedon as the PI, and have helped attract additional multi-year funding. Several proposals are also pending at the NSF and the NIH.