Greenes honored with endowed chair at BWH

Celebrating the tremendous progress made in the past 25 years in the field of biomedical informatics, along with the contributions made by Professor of Radiology and Health Sciences Robert Greenes, the Department of Radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) has established an endowment for a Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Informatics, and has named Greenes as its first incumbent. For subsequent incumbents, the chair will bear his name.

Using computer-based approaches, informatics can assist physicians in the proper diagnosis and management of patients with large numbers of common diseases. Other aspects of biomedical informatics have proved critical in the analysis of the human genome and in the management of large complex data sets.

Greenes, who is also a member of the Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology faculty, and a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, founded the Decision Systems Group (DSG) in the BWH Department of Radiology in 1980. In addition, Greenes has led a Boston-area research-training program in biomedical informatics for 20 years. He was also an early pioneer in development and evaluation of methods for structured data capture from physicians and patients, and modular approaches to integration of diverse, independently developed software applications to provide enhanced value.

“I am thrilled that BWH has chosen to honor not only me, but my colleagues in the Decision Systems Group. This honor also recognizes the growing importance of the field of biomedical informatics,” said Greenes. “I’m deeply thankful for the breadth of vision of this radiology department in embracing informatics not only for imaging but also for its role in all aspects of clinical practice, decision making, quality and safety, and clinical research.”

Greenes was honored at an event on Sept. 30 celebrating the 25th anniversary of his research group and the unveiling of the chair.