Gunther Eysenbach

Gunther Eysenbach, MD, MPH, is a senior researcher on Open access, health policy, eHealth , and consumer health informatics .

Eysenbach was born on March 22 1967, in Berlin, Germany. While being a medical student, he served on the executive board as elected Communication Director, later as Vice-President of the European Medical Students' Association (EMSA) [1]. He received a MD from the University of Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and a Master of Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA From 1999-2002 he founded and headed a Research Unit on Cybermedicine and Ehealth at the University of Heidelberg and organized and chaired the World Congress on Internet in Medicine [2]. In March 2002, he emigrated to Canada and, as of Nov 2006, is currently Senior Scientist at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation at the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada, and Associate Professor at the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto

Additional recommended knowledge

Guide to balance cleaning: 8 simple steps

Weighing the right way

Essential Laboratory Skills Guide

Journal of Medical Internet Research

Eysenbach is founder and editor-in-chief of this journal, started in 1999 as a peer-reviewed open access journal on all aspects of research, information and communication in the healthcare field. using Internet and Intranet-related technologies. In 2002, it was selected as the official journal of the Internet Healthcare Coalition, and in 2003, as the official journal of the Society for Internet in Medicine.

WebCite

Eysenbach is initiator of the system, an archiving service for scholarly authors and editors citing webpages.

Publications

Selected Articles

• Eysenbach G, Powell J, Kuss O, Sa ER. Empirical studies assessing the quality of health information for consumers on the World Wide Web: A systematic review. JAMA 2002; 287: 2691-2700
• Eysenbach G, Köhler C. How do consumers search for and appraise health information on the World-Wide-Web? Qualitative study using focus groups, usability tests and in-depth interviews. BMJ 2002; 324: 573-577
• Eysenbach G, Diepgen TL. Evaluation of Cyberdocs. Lancet 1998; 352 (9139): 1526
• Eysenbach G, Diepgen TL: Responses to unsolicited patient e-mail requests for medical advice on the World Wide Web. JAMA. 1998;280:1333-1335.
  • the JAMA study was accompanied by an editorial "On Call and On-line: Sociohistorical, Legal and Ethical Implications of E-mail for the Patient-Physician Relationship" by Alissa Spielberg; the JAMA and Lancet studies together led to more than 50 press stories, 15 radio interviews, and more than 10 TV broadcasts)
• Eysenbach G, Diepgen TL: Towards quality management of medical information on the internet: evaluation, labelling, and filtering of information. BMJ 1998;317:1496-1500
  • cited in AMAs policy “Guidelines for Medical and Health Information Sites on the Internet” published by the American Medical Association (JAMA. 2000;283:1600-1606)
• Eysenbach G. Citation Advantage of Open Access Articles. PLoS Biol 2006; 4(5): e157

Books written or edited

1. Lewis, D.; Eysenbach, G.; Kukafka, R.; Jimison, H.; Stavri, Z. (eds.): Consumer Health Informatics. Springer New York 2005, ISBN 0-387-23991-X
2. Eysenbach, G. (ed.): Medicine and Medical Education in Europe - The Eurodoctor, Stuttgart-New York: Thieme 1998, ISBN 3-13-115221-4
3. Eysenbach G, Lamers W (eds.): Praxis und Computer. (in German) Düsseldorf: Springer-Verlag/med-inform Verlagsges. 1999 2 Bde., ca. 1800 Seiten, DM 248,-
4. Eysenbach, G.: Computer-Manual für Mediziner und Biowissenschaftler. (in German) München-Wien-Baltimore: Urban & Schwarzenberg 1994, ISBN 3-541-11841-5

Awards

• 2002 Ferguson Distinguished Achievement Award: "Eysenbach is one of the most productive researchers, editors, and publishers in the online health field" [3] cached
• 2004 Janssen-Cilag Future Award (Zukunftspreis) [4] cached

References

• Centre for global e-health innovation launched in Toronto by Andy Shaw [5]
• Cyberdocs could be deadly. Interview on BBC News Online, November 6, 1998 [6] cached
• Cybermedicine. CLARE THOMPSON TALKS TO CYBERPHYSICIAN GUNTHER EYSENBACH. BMJ 1999;319;1294 [7] cached
• Open-Access Journals: An Expert Interview With Gunther Eysenbach. Medscape Critical Care. 2006;7(1) [8] (requires free registration)
• e-Health: Medical Advice from Cyberspace. Aventis Magazine [9] cached