Melissa Haendel named Chief Research Informatics Officer

(April 2021) Melissa A. Haendel, PhD, has been named Chief Research Informatics Officer (CRIO) for the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, a newly created position responsible for transforming the campus use of information and information systems to accelerate biomedical discoveries, streamline health system operations, and continuously improve patient care. 

The CRIO office will lead efforts to strategize and coordinate informatics governance, infrastructure, data management, and data-driven analytics across the Anschutz schools. The CRIO will be a key partner for centers and hospital partners on the campus, accelerating research and translating those discoveries to improvements in care. 

Haendel will also hold an appointment as professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics in the CU School of Medicine. Her appointment is effective April 1. She joins CU from the Oregon Health & Science University, where she leads the Translational and Integrative Sciences Laboratory and is a professor of medical informatics and clinical epidemiology.

“Institutions that have invested in their informatics infrastructure, expertise, training, and data governance experience greater efficiencies, innovations, financial outlooks, and importantly, improved care and patient outcomes,” Haendel said. “At the Anschutz Medical Campus, we have an excellent opportunity to work together to make a difference for patients, learners, researchers, and the entire biomedical community. Collaboration is key to realizing the promise of precision medicine, to deploying new models for training health professionals, and to achieving global research prominence.”