Published: June 17, 2015
Prabu David, Dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University, has been named as the new Chair of the Governing Board for the Sparrow/MSU Center for Innovation and Research.
David will follow Dean Mary Mundt, who is retiring after serving as Chair since the Center’s inception in September 2012.
David came to MSU in January after previously working at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University and The Ohio State University.
His research emphasis is communication technology and health, which involves designing mobile apps for health outcomes.
David earned a bachelor's degree from Loyola College, Chennai, India, in 1983; a master's degree in journalism from Ohio University in 1988; and a doctoral degree in mass communication from the University of North Carolina in 1993.
Shelia Cotten, PhD, has been named the Director of the Sparrow/MSU Center for Innovation. Cotten has served as the Interim Director since August 2014 and is a professor in the Department of Media and Information in the College of Communications Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University.
“I am excited to officially become the Director of the Center for Innovation and Research,” says Cotten. “I think the Center is poised to substantially increase the collaboration between clinicians at Sparrow and faculty at MSU as we conduct innovative research and develop new technologies that will substantially transform health care delivery and outcomes in the coming years.”
Cotten’s studies focus on the health, educational, and social impacts of technology use in users in all stages of life. Cotten conducts large-scale community based intervention studies designed to use technology to enhance various aspects of quality of life.
The Center for Innovation and Research has been created through a formal partnership agreement between Sparrow Health System and MSU. MSU’s intellectual capital and Sparrow’s community-based clinicians work collaboratively to develop innovative approaches to high quality, safe health care. The Center aims to transform the delivery of health care through the implementation and evaluation of research that improves Patient outcomes and lowers costs.