Dean Tom Fisher will discuss how research and development at the College of Design is impacting the field of healthcare during the Mayo Clinic Transform Symposium on Tuesday, September 11. The annual event brings together innovators, leaders, designers, entrepreneurs, policy makers and business thinkers to talk about how innovation and design solutions are transforming the experience and delivery of health care.

At the College of Design, health - human health, environmental health, community health - are common areas of focus across most of its 8 academic units and 10 research centers. A few examples include:

• The Metropolitan Design Center and Center for Changing Landscapes work with urban and rural communities to create environments that improve people's health.

• In the Wearable Product Design Center, apparel design professor Karen LaBat utilizes full-body scanning technology to create custom apparel that allows post-operative mastectomy and amputee patients to reenter normal life more readily. Apparel design assistant professor Lucy Dunne has developed smart clothing that can track medical conditions and deliver medication.

• In 2011, Linsey Gordon and Silvia Guttmann (B.S. Apparel Studies '12) developed a better hospital gown and won a $25,000 fellowship grant from the Park Nicollet Foundation.

• The Center for Design in Health uses creative problem solving to improve the successful outcomes of surgeries and other procedures. 

• The Virtual Reality Design Lab in Rapson Hall allows patients and healthcare personnel to "walk through" hospital settings during the design process.

• Interior design professor Denise Guerin and associate professor Caren Martin developed InformeDesign, the world's largest evidence-based design database. The database provides designers up-to-date research that can be used to enhance the experience and outcomes of a hospital stay.

• Architecture professor William Conway is studying ways to improve the "front of the house" environments of healthcare facilities.

• Landscape architecture professor Rebecca Krinke designs spaces and gardens to reduce feelings of anxiety, anger, and fear.

Dean Fisher is a leader in the public-interest design movement, and a long-time researcher and advocate for using design to tackle the major economic, environmental, and societal challenges facing the world. Recognized as one of the most published academics in his field, Fisher is the author of six books, 45 book chapters and over 250 major articles. His new book is Designing to Avoid Disaster: The Nature of Fracture-Critical Design.

• Follow the conversation about design and health during Mayo Transform 2012 on Twitter with #txfm
• Learn more about the College of Design and follow Dean Fisher on Twitter @MNDesignDean