Cleveland Clinic Names Epilepsy Specialist as Inaugural Chief Research Information Officer

Lara Jehi, MD

Cleveland Clinic has appointed epilepsy specialist Lara Jehi, MD, as the inaugural chief research information officer, the hospital said in a statement. Jehi will work closely with other departments such as finance, research, and information technology, among others, to advance the biomedical research groups within Cleveland Clinic.

Jehi has been an epilepsy specialist at Cleveland Clinic since 2006, leading several multi-institutional National Institutes of Health-funded (NIH) grants dedicated to data science. NeurologyLive has previously covered her work on the development of a nomogram to predict outcomes after epilepsy surgery, furthering the pursuit of a more personalized approach to pre- and post-op epilepsy surgery care.

Read the full press release from Cleveland Clinic below:

Lara Jehi, M.D., has been appointed the inaugural Chief Research Information Officer at Cleveland Clinic.

In this newly created position, Dr. Jehi will establish and oversee a robust research informatics environment to advance biomedical research throughout Cleveland Clinic. She will work closely with information technology, research, finance and other key departments to optimize the enterprise’s digital infrastructure to support research activities and accelerate new treatments for patients.

“As healthcare has become vastly more data-intensive, the Chief Research Information Officer role will bridge research and patient data with clinical care,” said James Young, M.D., Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Academic Officer. “Dr. Jehi’s expertise as both a data-based researcher and physician will provide strategic vision to leverage large clinical informatics systems to drive innovation.”

Dr. Jehi, an epilepsy specialist at Cleveland Clinic since 2006, is currently spearheading multi-institutional National Institutes of Health-funded grants focused on data science. She has led teams that developed the first nomograms for individualized outcome prediction after epilepsy surgery, work that was featured by Lancet Neurology in the Top 5 Innovations of 2015. Her data-driven algorithms for clinical care decision-making are being used, studied and expanded worldwide.

“We owe our patients a healthcare system that harnesses technology, creativity and science to provide the best care of today, and develop the pioneering care of tomorrow,” said Dr. Jehi. “As digital health care delivery matures, our team will harness Cleveland Clinic’s robust health information and data sources to shape research innovation in basic and translational science, clinical research, and healthcare delivery.”

Dr. Jehi holds several research leadership roles at Cleveland Clinic. As co-director of Network Capacity for the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Cleveland, her team facilitates multi-center clinical trials through streamlined recruitment efforts, using the electronic health record. She is the principal investigator of Cleveland Clinic’s Biorepository, a role leveraging information technology, enterprise analytics and regulatory support to efficiently scale up and incorporate biobanking efforts within clinical workflow. She is a vice-chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Institutional Review Board.

Dr. Jehi is professor of neurology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. She chairs several key commissions in the International League Against Epilepsy and the American Epilepsy Society. She has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, 10 book chapters and is a regular reviewer for NIH study sections.

Dr. Jehi received her medical degree from American University of Beirut. She completed her residency in neurology and fellowship in clinical neurophysiology at Cleveland Clinic. She graduates from Dartmouth College on February 1, 2020 with a Master’s degree in Health Care Delivery Science.

REFERENCE

Cleveland Clinic Appoints Lara Jehi, M.D., Chief Research Information Officer [news release]. Cleveland, OH; Cleveland Clinic. January 8, 2020. newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2020/01/07/cleveland-clinic-appoints-lara-jehi-m-d-chief-research-information-officer/. Accessed January 8, 2020.