MedNetworks Forms Distinguished Scientific Advisory Board to Maintain Leadership in Social Network Analytics

NEWTON, Mass., Dec. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- MedNetworks, Inc., the leading developer of social network analytics and technology in health, today announced the formation of a scientific advisory board. The mission of the board is to advance MedNetworks' applications of social network technology to key areas in health care, including population wellness, innovation among physicians and health care institutions, and health in corporations. The chairman of the advisory board is also MedNetworks scientific founder Dr. Nicholas Christakis.

Dr. James Fowler, professor of medical genetics and political science at University of California, San Diego, is joining the board as an advisor. In addition to his work with Christakis, co-authoring "Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives," Fowler was recently named one of "Foreign Policy's Top 100 Thinkers."

"We've assembled a superb team of academicians and industry leaders to provide MedNetworks with the most up-to-date perspectives in the field of social networks analytics and health care," said Larry Miller, MedNetworks CEO. "Our advisory board will ensure that MedNetworks remains the leader in applications of this critical area of social science to health care."

Joining Christakis and Fowler on the MedNetworks scientific advisory board are eight other distinguished members:

• F. Thomas Balzer, Ph.D. Dr. Balzer is the former CSO of Health Market Science and the founder and CEO of Optio Research.
• Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, Ph.D. Dr. Barabasi serves as Distinguished University Professor and director of Northeastern University's Center for Complex Network Research.
• David Flaschen, M.B.A. Mr. Flaschen is a partner at Castanea Partners, a private equity investing firm.
• Guido Imbens, Ph.D. Dr. Imbens is a professor of economics at Harvard University.
• Michael Kearns, Ph.D. Dr. Kearns is a professor of computer and information science at University of Pennsylvania.
• Bruce E. Landon, M.D., M.B.A. Dr. Landon is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine and Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School.
• Curtis P. Langlotz, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Langlotz is professor and vice chair for informatics at the Department of Radiology at University of Pennsylvania.
• Stanley Wasserman, Ph.D. is Rudy Professor of Statistics for the Department of Psychology and Sociology at Indiana University.

"MedNetworks represents the first commercialization of the technology my colleagues and I developed at Harvard," said Christakis, professor of health care policy at Harvard University's Department of Sociology and Medicine and chairman of MedNetworks' scientific advisory board. "Involvement of leading scientists and business advisors will keep MedNetworks in the forefront of this rapidly changing field."

Christakis is a physician, social scientist and professor whose groundbreaking research on social network influences is internationally renowned. MedNetworks holds the exclusive license from Harvard University to apply the technology Christakis developed at Harvard in the health care sector.

About MedNetworks

MedNetworks offers the only fully validated and functional technology to map, analyze and activate social networks across the health care sector, including consumers, patients, health plan members, physicians and hospitals. This technology, based on groundbreaking research of Harvard University Professor Nicholas Christakis, enables MedNetworks' customers to dramatically increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their interventions. For more information, please visit www.mednetworks.com.

Contact:

Scott Montminy

(781) 791-4553

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SOURCE MedNetworks, Inc.