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SBMI Commencement

Information

SBMI Commencement
Ceremony Information


We are pleased to announce that UTHealth Houston School of Biomedical Informatics (SBMI) will host its Commencement Ceremony on Tuesday, May 9, 2023. SBMI graduates who earned a Master of Science (MS), Doctorate in Health Informatics (DHI), or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Summer 2022, Fall 2022, or Spring 2023 will be eligible to walk during the ceremony.

The 2023 UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics commencement ceremony promises to be an exciting time as we celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates. By recognizing and acknowledging the excellence of our students and faculty, we spotlight SBMI tradition.

Note: This will not be a joint ceremony with other UTHealth Houston schools.

Commencement Ceremony Event Details

Date:
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Time:
4:00 to 6:00 PM (CT)
Location:
The Shepherd School of Music – Alice Pratt Brown Hall
 
Stude Concert Hall at Rice University
 
6100 Main Street
 
Houston, TX 77005


john-damore

Commencement Ceremony Speaker

John D’Amore, MS ‘11
President, More Informatics, Inc.
Founder and President of Diameter Health (acquired by Availity, August 2022)

John D’Amore is a thought leader and successful entrepreneur in the fields of informatics, standards, and health information technology. He is currently President of More Informatics, a company working on standards development and health IT initiatives. Previously, he was the Founder and President of Diameter Health. Diameter Health empowers organizations to deliver better healthcare through better data. Specifically, its API-based technology automates clinical data integration, normalization, & enrichment to national standards. As Founder, John wrote the original code and grew the company from inception to large contracts with national health plans, over 100 employees and $30 million in raised venture capital. Diameter Health was acquired by Availity in August 2022.

John received his Master’s degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Biomedical Informatics in 2011. During his graduate training, John lived in Texas while working at Memorial Hermann as its Director of Decision Support and subsequently at Allscripts as Vice President of Enterprise Performance Management. John previously attended Harvard University receiving an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and currently resides in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

His research, which began as part of his M.S. research at UTHealth Houston SBMI, has been cited in federal regulations to promote health information technology adoption, namely the “Meaningful Use” program. His contributions include profiling the issues of data quality issues among electronic health records that impede interoperability and the opportunity to improve patient outcomes and population health through quality measurement and predictive analytics.  He led an industry research collaborative through the Veterans Administration to document interoperability challenges, which won the Most Distinguished Paper award at the 2018 American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Symposium. He received a Volunteer of the Year award in 2021 from HL7. In addition, John serves as technical advisor and editor to organizations (ONC, NCQA, HL7) affecting clinical data exchange and quality measures nationally and is an adjunct professor at Boston University in their informatics program.

Please visit this page periodically in the upcoming months for more event updates.


  • Graduation Canvas Course & Check-out/E-mail Access

    Graduating students: Please ensure all deadlines are/have been met to maintain your eligibility to participate in this year’s commencement ceremony. Students enrolled in their final term at SBMI should use, the Canvas graduation course as a resource. Please ensure you have access to the course and complete required assignments in a timely manner.

    Please continue to check your UTHealth e-mail account regularly as we communicate updates regarding this event.

    Note: Your UTHealth email account ending in @uth.tmc.edu will be deleted 90 days from the end of your final term of enrollment.

    If you will be transitioning within these 90 days to employee status, registering for the upcoming Summer/Fall semester, or pursuing another degree at UTHealth Houston, then your email account will remain active.

  • Regalia Orders

    Regalia Rentals/Purchases

    Official regalia must be ordered through Graduate Affairs. Note that the approved regalia items are necessary if you wish to ‘walk’ in the ceremony. To rent regalia for the ceremony, please complete the online regalia request form and make payment through the Graduate Affairs website:


    The deadline for ordering regalia is March 31, 2023. We encourage you to submit your order as early as possible. Any order received after this date will be charged a late fee of $25.

    If you prefer to purchase your regalia instead of renting regalia, please see the information on the Graduate Affairs website.

    Regalia Distribution

    Regalia will be distributed and picked up at the commencement ceremony site on the day of the event; May 9 from 2:45-3:30 PM. Please arrive early to pick up your items, get dressed and take any pictures, if you desire.

    Return of Regalia

    Students and faculty should return their regalia rental package immediately after the graduation ceremony. Unreturned regalia will be charged to you at its equivalent purchase amount.

  • Driving Directions and Parking Rates

    Stude Concert Hall is located in Alice Pratt Brown Hall on Stadium Road on the Rice University campus (6100 Main St, Houston, TX 77005).  Campus Entrance No. 8 on University Blvd. is closest to the venue (at the corner of Stockton and University Blvd).

    All attendees are asked to park in West Lot 2 and walk to the Shepherd School of Music. A parking attendant will be on hand to assist and guide guests to the building. Here is the link to the campus map for Rice University.

    • From US-59 East, take the south Main St. exit and go south.  Turn west on University Blvd.
    • From US-59 West, take the Fannin St. exit and go south.  Turn west on University Blvd.
    • From 288, take the Binz St. exit and go west.  Turn south on Main St. and then west on University Blvd. 


    An alternative campus entry - Entrance No. 18 - is located on Rice Blvd. 

    Event Parking in West Lot 2 is available for $12-$15 per vehicle. Payment is only by credit Card - cash is not an option. The Central Garage is another parking option (Garage Rates apply). Parking attendant will be available in West Lot 2 for assistance if needed.

    Map of Parking Directions
  • Travel and Lodging

    Visit Google Maps for directions to Stude Concert Hall (located in Alice Pratt Brown Hall) at Rice University.

    Lodging is available at nearby hotels to Rice University and the Texas Medical Center.

  • Photography

    There will be a professional photographer on site to take pictures of the graduates. These photos will be posted on SBMI’s Flickr account a few weeks after the commencement ceremony. You can bring your own camera for any additional photo opportunities at the venue.

  • Commencement Ceremony & Reception

    Graduates should plan to arrive at the venue by 2:45 p.m. to ensure that they will be dressed in their regalia and lined up in the correct order. SBMI staff will be available to assist you, your family, friends, visitors, and faculty alike. Ceremony will begin promptly at 4:00 PM.

    Upon the conclusion of the commencement ceremony, please join us for a reception in the venue foyer.

    Drinks, hors d’oeuvre and desserts to be served.

  • Speaker
      
  • For Family & Guests

    The SBMI staff welcomes all families and guests to partake in this momentous occasion to celebrate the successful culmination of years of training for our students. Watching our students achieve this goal and celebrating it with them, their families, and their friends is a gratifying experience. We hope that you will find the ceremony enjoyable and memorable.

    Below are some general guidelines for the commencement ceremony:

      1. Doors will open approximately at 3:00 PM to allow guests time to find seating.
      2. Open seating is available to all guests, friends and family members of graduates that would like to attend. At this time, there is no cap on the number of guests our graduates can invite and tickets are not required for attendance.
      3. Photographs: There will be a professional photographer on site to take pictures of the graduates. These photos will be posted on SBMI’s Flickr account a few weeks after the commencement ceremony. You can bring your own camera for any additional photo opportunities. If you choose to take photos as the graduate walks across the stage, please take the photos in assigned designated area and then return to your seats quickly, enabling others to do the same. Our goal is to allow you to document this momentous occasion, but maintain a clear view of the stage for the rest of the audience. Please remember to respect the reverence of this memorable event for our graduates.
      4. Special guests from the university and the community will be present and will be directed by the staff to assigned seating.
      5. Staff will assist any persons needing special access.
      6. Staff will direct any disruptive individuals to a quiet location.
      7. After the ceremony, please permit the faculty and graduates to exit first during the processional.

    Immediately following the ceremony, graduates and their guests are invited to enjoy a reception at the venue.

  • Commencement 2023 Photos & Video

    Day of Photos can be viewed in the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics Flickr account. The video of the commencement ceremony is also available in SBMI’s YouTube channel.

     Thank you to all the Graduates, Faculty, Staff and Family and Guests in attendance.


Contact Information: 

Office of Academic Affairs
School of Biomedical Informatics 
(713) 500-3591
SBMIAcademics@uth.tmc.edu

Updated: May 19, 2023