Physical and Computational Sciences
and Engineering

March 2006 Mission
Kenneth Daratha
V.S. Manoranjan
Sinisa Mesarovic
M. Grant Norton
WenZhan Sony

May 2005 Mission
J. Daniel Dolan
Peter Engels
Robert R. Lewis
Cole C. McDaniel

Dr. Kenneth Daratha,
is an assistant professor in the Informatics Program at Washington State University Spokane. He received his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Washington State University in 2004 and an MBA from Eastern Washington University in 1987. He currently teaches strategy and technical courses in the Bachelor of Science in Informatics program at Washington State University Spokane. His informatics-based research interests include neural networks, rule induction, and agent-based models applied to large health care datasets. His recent investigations include the areas of diabetes and depression, delaying the onset of micro vascular co-morbid disease in individuals with diabetes, health and the built environment, and understanding factors that influence adolescent obesity. Dr. Daratha also mentors high school students in mathematics,
bioinformatics, and epidemiology.

Informatics
Kenneth Daratha
Improving Health Outcomes for Individuals with Chronic Disease

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Dr. Daratha is leading multi-disciplinary teams from health sciences, design disciplines, and engineering management in research projects designed to understand, prevent, and improve health outcomes for individuals with chronic disease. Current scientific evidence collected by mining large health care datasets and from original research investigation forms the basis for the programming of procedural rules in computer simulations called agent-based models. Dr. Daratha’s agent-based models investigate the impact of a variety of interventions on population health outcomes.

For instance, American children are becoming obese at an alarming rate. Dr. Daratha is studying factors associated with adolescent obesity. In a collaborative agreement with Spokane School District 81, this 10-year longitudinal study tracks students from early elementary grades into middle school. Physical performance and body mass index will identify at-risk children who will benefit from early interventions in elementary school designed to avoid adolescent obesity.

In another research project in collaboration with clinicians at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington, Dr. Daratha will assess the feasibility of implementing wireless computerized screening for depression among individuals with diabetes in the waiting room of a primary care clinic. While depression is a serious co-morbid disease for individuals with diabetes, many health care providers fail to identify and treat depression in patients with diabetes. Computerized screening for this disease is expected to improve the identification and treatment of depression. Treatment of depression is also expected to improve health outcomes in the area of diabetes, as both the mental and physical needs of the patient are addressed.

It’s clear that human health is influenced by environment and that most research on the impact of built-form (i.e., the environment man constructs) on health is drawn from dense populations in urban and suburban environments. Dr. Daratha investigates differences in measures of human health in the isolated rural areas of Washington state, in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Health. The information he uncovers on the role isolated rural environments have on human health will provide important insights into serving these underserved populations.

Contact Information
Kenneth B. Daratha, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Informatics

Washington State University Spokane
PO Box 1495
Spokane, WA 99210-1495

Telephone: 509-358-7769
E-mail: kdaratha@wsu.edu