With expertise in using data as a catalyst for discovery and better health, Jomol Mathew, PhD, will join the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health as Chief, Biomedical Informatics.
In this new role for the school she will lead the Clinical and Health Informatics Institute (CHI2), housed within the Institute of Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), and oversee the schoolwide biomedical informatics enterprise. She will also join the faculty of the Department of Population Health Sciences. Mathew begins the position on April 1, 2020.
Mathew joins the UW School of Medicine and Public Health from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she has served since 2015 in important roles including the Chief Research Informatics Officer, Associate Chief Information Officer, and Head of Research Technologies and Data Sciences.
“I am inspired by the opportunity to develop a broad research informatics vision and strategy to support SMPH’s goals of precision medicine, population health, and translational research,” she says. “I strongly believe that the integration of community, clinical, and research data, along with advanced data science, can help generate new research ideas and meaningful intervention points for clinical care.”
During her tenure in Massachusetts she helped found the UMass Center for Data Driven Discoveries in Healthcare (D3Health), which researches, develops, and tests mobile health devices and digital sensors. Her work has used informatics to assist in a wide range of research, from assessing suicide risk to understanding social determinants of health.
Mathew earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kerala Agricultural University in Thrissur, India and her PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the New York University School of Medicine.
“Dr. Mathew will be charged with advancing our world-class institution by building infrastructure, developing tools, and finding new opportunities to partner across local and statewide institutions,” says Elizabeth Burnside, MD, MPH, MS, associate dean for team science and interdisciplinary research at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. “She will be a key leader in collaborative initiatives to develop mission-aligned programs that translate innovation into advances for our patients both at the point of care, and in the community.”
Along with the leading CHI2, Mathew will develop and guide the research and strategy for the school’s work in biomedical informatics, predictive analytics, precision medicine, and translational research. This includes leading or playing a role in informatics for the UW Carbone Cancer Center, Center for Human Genomics and Precision Medicine, and other school centers and units.
“Mathew’s expertise will allow the school to expand its global, national, and state impact in biomedical informatics, clinical and translational data sciences, digital innovations in health care, and information technology in research by bridging research and innovation with patient health and outcomes,” says Robert N. Golden, MD, dean of the School of Medicine and Public Health.
For Mathew, a thriving biomedical informatics infrastructure can set the stage for the school’s researchers and physicians to deal with current and future public health issues.
“The evolving COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for effective and efficient data- and informatics-centric approaches for rapid translation of clinical and population health findings into clinical care and public health interventions,” Mathew says. “The School of Medicine and Public Health is well positioned to evolve into a national leader in this vitally important area.”