Viola Goodacre

Hello! I'm Viola Goodacre, a PhD student in the Carolina Health Informatics Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology at Oxford Brookes University, a graduate diploma in biomedical science at the University of Wolverhampton, a master’s degree in software development at the University of Central England, and a master's degree in biomedical and health informatics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I also have 15 years of experience as an applications user interface developer.

My current research is with the UNC Visual Analysis & Communication Laboratory in the School of Information and Library Science, developing a python widget for visual comparison of health research cohorts derived from retrospective health records with the goal of helping health researchers to identify and mitigate bias during cohort selection.

Identifying contextual workplace stressors in a division of plastic and reconstructive surgery.

Goodacre V, Adapa K, Kwong E, Vizer L, Liu C, Charguia N, Greenberg C, Damitz L, McHugh D, Mazur L. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Global Open. 2025;13(2):e6525. doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000006525. 

This sequential mixed-methods study used systems analysis and contextual inquiry methods to measure and model burnout in a plastic and reconstructive surgery division at a US academic medical center. The research highlights specific areas to target for improvements.

Determining the causes of surgical teams' burnout.

Goodacre V, Kwong E, Liu C, Adapa K, Mazur L. Industrial and Systems Engineering at Work. 2023;55(2):34-39.

This magazine article describes the systems analysis and contextual inquiry methods used to measure and model burnout in two surgical divisions at a US academic medical center. We also describe the challenges we faced and recommendations for how to overcome them.