The Grainger College of Engineering

Abigail Wooldridge

Abigail Wooldridge
Abigail Wooldridge
  • Assistant Professor
(217) 300-8086
209A Transportation Building

For More Information

Education

  • Ph.D., Industrial Engineering, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 2018. Thesis: "Team Cognition Distributed in Spatio-Temporal Processes: A Macroergonomic Approach to Trauma Care"
  • M.S., Industrial and Systems Engineering (Human Factors and Ergonomics), University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 2013
  • M.Eng. (with thesis), Summa Cum Laude, Industrial Engineering (Operations Research and Applied Statistics), University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, 2012. Thesis: "Modeling the workflow of one primary care physician-nurse team."
  • B.S., Summa Cum Laude, Industrial Engineering, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, 2011

Biography

Professor Wooldridge is looking for research assistants! For more information, go here!

Academic Positions

  • OSF Faculty Fellow,Order of Saint Francis Healthcare System, 2024 - Present
  • ISE Faculty Fellow, 2022 - Present
  • Courtesy (0%) Appointment, Coordinated Science Laboratory, 2021 – Present
  • Assistant Professor (0%), Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Urbana, Illinois, 2020 - Present
  • Courtesy (0%) Appointment, Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 2020 - Present
  • Courtesy (0%) Appointment, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 2019 - Present
  • Courtesy (0%) Appointment, Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 2019 - Present
  • Affiliate Faculty (0%), Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 2018-Present
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 2018 - Present

Research Statement

Professor Wooldridge's research addresses the design of complex sociotechnical systems, primarily in healthcare settings, using mixed methods approaches to improve outcomes. In healthcare, that means patient outcomes (e.g., patient safety, quality of care) as well as clinician outcomes (e.g., workload, burnout). She has conducted research focused on primary care, care coordination of patients with chronic conditions (hospital to community care transitions) and trauma care. Her dissertation, conducted in the context of a larger project developing health information technology to support teamwork and care transitions, took a macroergonomic approach to studying care transitions of trauma patients. She then examined on the handoff communication associated with those handoffs as instances of team cognition.

Current projects include continuing to study care transitions; she plans to conduct observation studies of inpatient care transitions between hospital units as well as return to the community care setting by studying hospital discharge care transitions. Part of this work will explore the concept of the “patient journey,” i.e., spatio-temporal distribution of patients’ interactions with multiple care settings (e.g., hospitals, clinics, home, long-term care, etc.) over time. She plans to develop interventions, such as redesigned processes, new technologies, etc., to improve care transitions; this will involve participatory design processes and usability evaluations in her lab and/or simulated settings such as JUMP Simulation. A third area of research includes developing ways to measure team cognition, particular in care transitions. Key components of her research approach include engaging frontline workers (patients and their family as well as various healthcare professionals) and utilizing mixed methods, i.e., both qualitative and quantitative, research designs.

Check out the Human Factors in Sociotechnical Systems Laboratory, directed by Dr. Wooldridge, website at https://hfss.ise.illinois.edu/contact-us/

Graduate Research Opportunities

Human factors is a diverse field, and much of the work we do requires knowledge from multiple disciplines. Therefore, Professor Wooldridge is interested in having students from various majors including industrial engineering, computer science, psychology, health sciences, community health, and related fields.

A good starting point for all interested graduate students is to send an email to Professor Wooldridge that describes:

  • Your previous research and/or work experience
  • Why you specifically want to work with Professor Wooldridge
  • How your research interests align with the Macroergonomics and Complex Systems Lab.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Getting involved in research is a great way to apply knowledge learned in class and enhance your education - it is also a great way to explore the idea of graduate school. Students can get involved in projects in various stages, through a variety of ways. Interested students should email Professor Wooldridge directly.

Human factors is a diverse field, and much of the work we do requires knowledge from multiple disciplines. Therefore, Professor Wooldridge is interested in having students from various majors including industrial engineering, computer science, psychology, health sciences, community health, and related fields.

Research Interests

  • Patient journey
  • Patient safety
  • Care transitions
  • Teams
  • Team cognition
  • Sociotechnical systems
  • Macroergonomics
  • Human factors and ergonomics

Research Areas

  • Design and Manufacturing
  • Health Technology
  • Social, Human, and Engineering Systems

Books Edited or Co-Edited (Original Editions)

Chapters in Books

  • Carayon, P., & Wooldridge, A. R. (2020). Improving Patient Safety in the Patient Journey: Contributions from Human Factors Engineering. In A. E. Smith (Ed.), Women in Industrial and Systems Engineering: Key Advances and Perspectives on Emerging Topics (pp. 275-299). Cham: Springer International Publishing
  • Carayon, P., Kianfar, S., Li, Y., & Wooldridge, A. (2015). Organizational design: Macroergonomics as a foundation for human systems integration. In D. A. Boehm-Davis, F. T. Durso & J. D. Lee (Eds.), APA Handbook of Human Systems Integration (1 ed., pp. pp.573-588). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Selected Articles in Journals

  • Hose, B.-Z., Hoonakker, P. L. T., Wooldridge, A. R., Ross, J., Kohler, J., Brazelton, T., Eithun, B., Kelly, M., Dean, S., Rusy, D., Gurses, A., Feckler, J. & Carayon, P. (2019) Physicians’ Perceptions of the Problem List in Pediatric Trauma Care. Applied Clinical Informatics, 10(1):113-122.
  • Carayon, P., Wooldridge, A. R., Hose, B.-Z., Salwei, M. & Benneyan, J. (2018) Improving Patient Safety Through Human Factors and Systems Engineering: Opportunities and Challenges. Health Affairs, 37(11), 1862-1869.
  • Wooldridge, A. R., Carayon, P., Hoonakker, P. L. T., Hose, B.-Z., Ross, J., Kohler, J., Brazelton, T., Eithun, B., Kelly, M., Dean, S., Rusy, D., Durojaiye, A. & Gurses, A. P. (2019). Complexity of the Pediatric Trauma Care Process: Implications for Multi-Level Awareness. Cognition, Technology and Work, 21: 397-416. doi:10.1007/s10111-018-0520-0.
  • Wooldridge, A. R., Carayon, P., Eagan, B., & Shaffer, D. W. (2018). Quantifying the Qualitative with Epistemic Network Analysis: A Human Factors Case Study of Task-Allocation Communication in a Primary Care Team. IISE Transactions on Healthcare Systems Engineering. DOI: 10.1080/24725579.2017.1418769
  • Wooldridge, A. R., Carayon, P., Hundt, A. S., & Hoonakker, P. L. T. (2017). SEIPS-based process modeling in primary care. Applied Ergonomics, 60, 240-254.
  • Carayon, P., Kianfar, S., Li, Y., Xie, A., Alyousef, B., & Wooldridge, A. (2015). A systematic review of mixed methods research on human factors and ergonomics in health care. Applied Ergonomics, 51, 291-321.

Journal Editorships

  • Ergonomics, Editorial Board Member
  • Human Factors in Healthcare, Editorial Board Member (Research)

Professional Societies

  • Alpha Pi Mu; Chapter Vice-President 2011-2012
  • Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society Inaugural Student Advisory Board Member 2013; Chapter President, Convention Delegate 2011-2012; National Awards Committee Chair 2011
  • Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Diversity & Inclusion Committee: Member 2017-Present; lead of conference annual meeting programming subcommittee 2018-2021, member of subcommittee for HFES Seed Grants Targeting the Intersections of HF/E and Anti-Racism/Anti-Bias subcommittee member (2020-2021) Chair: 2021-202 Societal Impact Committee Member 2018 - 2023; lead of conference panel subcommittee (2019-2020) Healthcare Technical Group Secretary/Treasurer 2019-2021, Chair-Elect 2021-2023, Chair 2023-2025; Membership Committee Member 2021-2023; Taskforce to Rename Awards Member 2021-2023

Honors

  • University of Illinois System Presidential Medallion (2021)

Research Honors

  • The Robert L. Wears Early Career Award, Healthcare Technical Group, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (2021)
  • Advancing Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Through Human Systems Engineering recognized as Winner of the Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2020 Award; the Choice OAT Award represents the highest caliber of scholarly titles that have been reviewed by Choice and conveys the extraordinary recognition of the academic community. (2020 )

Recent Courses Taught

  • IE 340 (PSYC 358) - Human Factors
  • IE 441 - Work and Organization Design
  • IE 498 AW (IE 598 AW) - Job and Organization Design
  • IE 546 (EPSY 546) - Human Factors in HCES
  • IE 590 - Industrial Engr. Grad Seminar
  • IE 598 FHC - Field Research in Health Care
  • SE 590 (IE 590) - Seminar

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