Indiana University School of Medicine this week announced that Rachel E. Patzer, an expert in epidemiology and health services research, has been appointed to be president and chief executive officer of the school-affiliated Regenstrief Institute.

WHY IT MATTERS
Patzer, who holds degrees including a masters in public health and a doctorate in epidemiology, will begin the new role on May 1. She currently works at Emory University School of Medicine, where she serves as the founding director of its Health Services Research Center and is a tenured professor there in the school's department of surgery.

She founded the Health Services Research Center at Emory five years ago with the aim of  opportunities for closer connections and collaboration between methodologists and clinical researchers.

Patzer has long been focused on health equity and has proven herself a leader in data-driven efforts to increase patient access, improve delivery and boost health outcomes, say Regenstrief officials.

"Over the course of her career, Dr. Patzer's work in using data to expose inequities and inefficiencies in health systems aligns perfectly with the important work being done by our world-class researchers at the Regenstrief Institute," said Dr. Jay L. Hess, dean of the IU School of Medicine, in a statement. "It is a critical time in our community for health care research, and I am confident that Dr. Patzer is the transformative leader needed to take the Regenstrief Institute into the future."

THE LARGER TREND
Regenstrief is a leader dedicated to improving health and healthcare through innovations and research in biomedical informatics.

Among just some of its recent innovative data research: a framework announced in January to to assess the accuracy of patient matching algorithms; HIE-trained AI models to forecast individual COVID-19 hospitalization risk; a surveillance system using EHR data to track long COVID and, eventually, support nationwide population health studies.

The institute has also recently led research on the "double-edged sword" of clinical texting, worked closely with the Indiana Health Information Exchange, collaborated with University of Utah Health on AI models to develop personalized Type 2 diabetes care and more.

"Data is critical, but it won't improve health on its own," said Tatiana Foroud, executive associate dean for research affairs at IU School of Medicine, and vice chair of the Regenstrief board of directors. "Dr. Patzer's experience in establishing the connection between methodology and clinical practice will be key to making a meaningful impact on the health of people in our state, our nation and around the world."

ON THE RECORD
"I am excited to work with the internationally renowned Regenstrief investigators in biomedical informatics, aging, and health services research, who are leading the way in using data – from an ever-increasing number and types of sources to improve health," said Patzer in a statement.

"The Institute has contributed so significantly to such areas as electronic health records, health information exchange, health outcomes research, collaborative care, addressing the inclusion of neglected populations into research and many other areas." she added.