Vanderbilt Researchers Take Part in NSF Cybersecurity Grant

Sep 4, 2013
A multi-institution team will examine security and privacy issues surrounding the transition to electronic health information.

By Nathaniel Luce

M. Eric Johnson, Dean of Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management, has been named as a principal co-investigator on a new $10-million, five-year grant from the Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace program of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The grant will support research investigating ways to protect patient confidentiality and privacy as health organizations move towards the use of electronic medical records.
 
Researchers at Vanderbilt — alongside colleagues at Dartmouth College, University of Illinois, The Johns Hopkins University, and University of Michigan — will examine the impact of IT investments on the effectiveness of hospital security programs. The team will do this by analyzing data collected on the prevalence of malware, combined with data on hospital security programs. Using economic game theory models, the researchers will also examine how organizational incentives, penalties, and audits impact user behavior and hospital privacy performance.
 
“Vanderbilt is delighted to be part of this outstanding multi-institution team,” Johnson said.
 
In alignment with the themes outlined in the 2011 Strategic Plan for the Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Program, these efforts will build on NSF's long history of advancing cybersecurity.
 
“Cybersecurity is one of the most significant economic and national security challenges facing our nation today,” said Farnam Jahanian, NSF's assistant director for computer and information science and engineering (CISE).
 
For more information, visit the project website at THaW.org.
 
Read more:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=128679
 

Contact Person: Ryan Underwood Business Editor Owen Graduate School of Management Vanderbilt University

Contact Phone: (615) 322-3469
Contact Email: ryan.underwood@vanderbilt.edu

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