William Hersh, MD, professor and chair, Department of Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology (DMICE), has been elected President of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI), or the Academy for short. Dr. Hersh will take on the President role in September, 2020 and serve a two-year term.

The Academy was established in 2017 by the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). As noted on its Web site, the Academy “serves as an honor society that recognizes expertise in biomedical and health informatics internationally. Academy Membership is one of the highest honors in the international field of biomedical and health informatics. The Academy will serve as an international forum for peers in biomedical and health informatics. The Academy will play an important role in exchanging knowledge, providing education and training, and producing policy documents, e.g., recommendations and position statements.”

“It is an honor to be elected to this role by my colleagues from around the world,” said Dr. Hersh. “In countries across the planet, with different healthcare systems and differing amounts of resources to devote to them, there is a universal need to use data and information to improve individual and public health. I hope that the Academy can serve as an advocate for the contributions informatics can make to advancing research in the field and educating the next generation of professionals, academics, and leaders.”

Dr. Hersh was among the group of 130 fellows elected to the inaugural membership of the Academy in 2017. Since then, an additional 26 members have been elected, including DMICE professor and vice chair, Joan Ash, PhD. Dr. Hersh is also a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (FACMI), the American Medical Informatics Association (FAMIA), and the American College of Physicians (FACP).