Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality invites Zhang to prestigious council

Jiajie Zhang, PhD, was recently named a member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Zhang is the dean and Glassell Family Foundation Distinguished Chair in Informatics Excellence at UTHealth Houston School of Biomedical Informatics.

According to the AHRQ, NAC members provide advice and recommendations to AHRQ's director and to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on priorities for a national health services research agenda. The NAC members contribute a varied perspective on the health care system and the most important questions that AHRQ's research should address in order to promote improvements in the quality, outcomes, and cost-effectiveness of clinical practice.

 Zhang has served as principal investigator and co-investigator on several AHRQ-funded projects on patient safety, decision making, and cognitive workflow in the context of health information technology.

“Joining the National Advisory Council is a true honor and privilege,” said Zhang. “The NAC is full of healthcare research and quality subject-matter experts from across the country. Joining the council allows me to not only represent the informatics community, but I have the opportunity to make contributions to make healthcare safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable on a national platform.”