How Does a Health System Learn? EngenuitySC’s Science Café with MUSC’s Dr. Leslie Lenert, June 9, 2015

Tuesday, June 9, 2015, 6:00-7:30 p.m. at Speakeasy lounge in Columbia, S.C.

COLUMBIA, SC – How does a health system learn? Is it possible for laboratory findings to make an immediate impact in the way a patient is cared for? Dr. Leslie Lenert, M.D., M.S., Chief Research Information Officer and Director of the Biomedical Informatics Center at the Medical University of South Carolina will present his findings in medical informatics and predictive analytics at EngenuitySC’s Science Café, Tuesday, June 9, 2015, 6:00-7:30 p.m. at Speakeasy lounge in Columbia, S.C.

As MUSC’s first Chief Research Information Officer (CRIO), Dr. Lenert designs and implements an integrated research infrastructure to coordinate MUSC’s research and clinical efforts. In his talk, Dr. Lenert will discuss his work at MUSC and the information technology processes that he has found to work best in aiding clinical research in his 20-plus years of experience.

A pioneer of web-based medical systems for patient use in the 1990s, and later, of national biodefense computer systems and public health databases, Dr. Lenert has dedicated his career to increasing the ease and swiftness of information transference to both doctor and patient. The practicing physician’s current research focuses on finding approaches to help make health care safer and more patient-centric through the application of cognitive modeling and predictive analytics – elements of the Biomedical Informatics (BMI) sector of healthcare.

BMI is the interdisciplinary field of public health that studies the effective use of biomedical data, information and knowledge for problem solving and decision making and is entirely motivated by efforts to improve human health – or, in simpler terms, it is the science of managing information for healthcare and integrating it into policies and procedures.

Because BMI research is relatively new, so is MUSC’s CRIO position. When Dr. Lenert began working at MUSC, he was one of less than a dozen professionals working in similar positions at top medical institutions throughout the United States.

During his time at MUSC, Dr. Lenert has designed solutions to MUSC’s healthcare system, ensuring physicians are able to retrieve vital patient information quickly, and that multi-disciplinary research is constantly collected. Working by his mantra, “actionable information is integrated information,” he has made MUSC’s scientific programs more cohesive – so that discoveries can be translated quickly, via an expedited bench-to-bedside process.

As a practicing physician, Dr. Lenert has first hand knowledge of the vital inner-workings of healthcare. He is able to see how his implemented programs work as he continues to see patients at MUSC.

The SmartState® Endowed Chair in Medical Bioinformatics, Dr. Lenert was named MUSC’s first CRIO in January 2014. He also serves as Chief Medical Information Officer for Health Services South Carolina. At the South Carolina Translation Research Institute, Dr. Lenert is a professor of internal medicine and serves as Director of the Informatics Program.

Before joining the MUSC staff, Lenert worked at the University of Utah, where he served as the Ann G. and Jack Mark Presidential Chair in Internal Medicine; the Associate Chair of the Department of Medicine for Quality and Innovation and Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Informatics. He served as the Founding Director of the National Center for Public Health Informatics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he managed the development of key national biodefense systems. Dr. Lenert earned his M.D. from University of California, Los Angeles and his M.S. in Biomedical Informatics from Stanford University, where he also completed a fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology.

About Science Café
EngenuitySC hosts Science Café at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month, featuring informal presentations by some of South Carolina’s top leaders in science and technology in a casual atmosphere. Guests enjoy networking and a cash bar with high quality beer, wine and cocktails at Speakeasy in Five Points, a comfortable, pub-style environment with couches and expert mixologists behind the bar. Patrons have the opportunity to discuss the latest knowledge economy topics with leading researchers in a relaxed environment that encourages questions, interruptions and discussion. For more information and to register for free admission (and perks) for the next Science Café, visit http://www.engenuitysc.com/sciencecafe.

About EngenuitySC
Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., EngenuitySC is a public-private partnership focused on enhancing our region’s economic competitiveness and prosperity. Through collaboration with business, government, higher education and community leaders, EngenuitySC builds partnerships and measures success around five indicators of competitive communities: innovative capacity, talent, entrepreneurial/business environment, livability and strong industry clusters. Through our innovative process, unique vision and ability to create a plan and deliver results, EngenuitySC is working to build a more competitive and prosperous Midlands region. For more information, visit http://www.engenuitysc.com.

About the SmartState® Program
The SmartState® Program serves the public interest by creating incentives for the state’s research universities, in cooperation with other institutions of higher education in the state, to raise capital from non-state sources to fund endowments for specialized research professorships. These professorships in turn serve as the nucleus for unique, university-based research centers which cultivate critical, public-private industrial partnerships, expand the state’s knowledge base, create well-paying jobs, and enhance economic opportunities and improve the quality of life for the people of South Carolina. For more information, visit http://www.SmartStateSC.org.