HISTORY OF THE CRHRE
The Center for Rural Health Research & Education (CRHRE) was established at the University of Wyoming in September 2000 as a research
unit of the College of Health Sciences. The center resulted from the shared vision of Dr. Robert Kelley, Dean of the College, and Dr. Rex
Gantenbein, a faculty member in the UW Department of Computer Science. Dr. Kelley was interested in creating an interdisciplinary center
to advance research efforts in the College, while Dr. Gantenbein had been working for several years on ways to use computing and
telecommunications technology to improve health care in rural areas.
The CRHRE was first funded with a three-year grant from the National Library of Medicine. Through that grant, staff were hired to
create a Web portal related to health care that would serve the entire state of Wyoming, particularly faculty, students, and
health professionals, and facilitate health-related research. The focus of this portal was on information dissemination, but it
also included tools for locating health resources in the state through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology.
At that time, the Center was housed in what was known as "Old Biochemistry," a somewhat run-down building on
the west side of the UW campus that had previously housed a variety of UW departments and programs.
Since its inception, the CRHRE has initiated a diverse set of projects relating to the use of technology in rural health care.
These projects have included such things as:
- Serving as primary research contractor for the State Planning Grant, a federally funded grant focused on tracking the uninsured
population in Wyoming and designing strategies for increasing insurance coverage in the state;.
- With funding from The Wyoming Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, building and maintaining a breast health education web site;
- With the UW School of Nursing and Wyoming Senior Centers, providing computers for Senior Centers in several Wyoming communities;
- Implementing high-speed computing using clustered computers to speed up the processing of complicated computing problems;
- Creating an Access Grid-enabled classroom, which supported world-wide Internet videoconferencing through for up to 50 people; and
- Installing and maintaining Internet videoconferencing for the College of Health Sciences.
CURRENT AND FUTURE ACTIVITIES
In 2005, along with most of the other divisions of the College, we moved from temporary housing back into "Old Biochem,"
which had been beautifully renovated into the Health Sciences Center. Our offices and server room occupy the south end of the
second floor of the new complex (room 230), overlooking the Classroom Building and the rest of the west campus. We employ a diverse
group of research scientists (see “Staff” under the quick links to the right for a current list and contact information).
We recently prepared two reports that summarize our current research activities and our plans for the future. To view or download these
documents, click on the links below.
2008 CRHRE Research Report
2008 CRHRE Academic Plan
To learn more about our specific areas of interest, click on the topic areas in the list below our banner, where you can also view more
detailed information about the projects related to those topics.