The John P. Glaser Health Informatics Society 2017 Recipient
Dr. David Westfall Bates, Harvard University

In October of 2016, The John P. Glaser Health Informatics Society was formally launched at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Biomedical Informatics (SBMI) in recognition of the expertise and leadership of John P. Glaser, PhD, who is a universally recognized thought leader in the field of health informatics. The John P. Glaser Health Informatics Society was created to recognize innovators in the field of health informatics and provide education, collaboration, and networking opportunities for the broader community of health informatics professionals, clinicians, and students. Ivo D. Nelson, a celebrated health information technology entrepreneur, was accorded the 2016 John P. Glaser Health Informatics Innovator Award.

On October 30, 2017, internationally renowned patient safety expert, Dr. David W. Bates, will accept the 2017 John P. Glaser Health Informatics Innovator Award and be formally inducted into the Glaser Society by its Founding Member, John P. Glaser, PhD; Ivo D. Nelson, the 2016 Glaser Award recipient; SBMI Dean, Jiajie Zhang, PhD; and SBMI Associate Dean for Applied Informatics, Dr. Robert Murphy.  The event will include a lecture by Dr. Bates entitled The Use of Big Data to Improve Care, followed by a reception in his honor; a more detailed announcement will be disseminated to the public in June.

Dr. John Glaser recently remarked, “For decades now, David Bates has been a major force in the advancement of health IT.  He has earned the well-deserved respect of peers and colleagues— informaticians, scientists, physicians, nurses, and other health professionals, alike—for his visionary work to improve clinical decision making, patient safety, quality of care, cost-effectiveness, and outcomes assessment in medical practice.”

“In our field, an intellect of Dr. David Bates’ caliber is rare.  He knows the true value of data and translates the knowledge derived from those data to improve human health.  From the computerization of subscribing drugs and decision support, to shaping health policy and bringing nurses to the frontlines of informatics training and practice, he has led and we have followed.  Dr. Glaser and I are extremely honored that Dr. Bates has accepted the 2017 John P. Glaser Health Informatics Innovator Award,” affirmed SBMI Dean, Dr. Jiajie Zhang.

“Importantly, Dr. Bates’ innovative achievements in health informatics are marked by practical application in the clinical environment.  As a fellow MD and former CMIO, I thoroughly appreciate his seminal contributions to evidence-based medical practice,” observed Associate Dean, Dr. Robert Murphy.

Dr. David Bates is Chief, Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he also directs the Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice; Medical Director, Clinical and Quality Analysis, at Partners HealthCare System, Inc.; Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; and Professor of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, where he co-directs the Program in Clinical Effectiveness.

Dr. Bates received his BS degree in Chemistry from Stanford University, his MD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and his MSc from Harvard School of Public Health (Department of Health Policy and Management). He completed residency training in internal medicine at the Oregon Health Sciences University and a postdoctoral research fellowship in medicine at the Harvard Medical School.

Previously, he served as external program lead for research in the World Health Organization’s Global Alliance for Patient Safety, and is former President of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua), as well as former board chair of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA).  He is the current Editor of the Journal of Patient Safety. He has been elected to the Institute of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians and the American College of Medical Informatics.  He has published over 700 peer-reviewed papers and has an h-index of 115, which ranks him among the 400 most cited biomedical researchers of any type.

Among many honors and achievements accorded him during his career, Dr. David Bates has received the 2016 Morris F. Collen Award of Excellence from the American College of Medical Informatics and the 2013 Robert J. Glaser Award from the Society of General Internal Medicine, which are the highest honors of these societies.