Joe Gibson, MPH, PhD

I am a national leader in public health informatics. I have deep experience in health department informatics issues, and have been active in national discussions and projects. I have fairly unique experience in the interface between public health and health information exchanges.  My national work’s focus has been to help assure that we are organized in keeping public health department concerns on the table in national discussions, and to help public health keep moving along the informatics road.  I would bring an unusually well-grounded perspective and understanding of how public health can work with health information exchanges to each other's benefit.  I bring both technical understanding and content knowledge, familiarity with healthcare informatics, connections with healthcare informatics leaders, and strong teamwork and communication skills.

Locally, as the Marion County Public Health Department (MCHPD, serving Indianapolis) director of epidemiology from 2003 through 2022, I was the health department's point person regarding most informatics issues.  I worked with staff in various offices of the state health department on data access and data exchange, especially regarding new systems.  I have also worked with other local health departments, leading a project to provide the state health department with system requirements for a new, reportable disease case investigation system.

Nationally, I currently lead the CDC Foundation's public health informatics improvement efforts.

I was founding chair of the BioSense Governance Group, receiving the International Society for Disease Surveillance's (ISDS) principal award in 2014 for putting that initiative on the trajectory that has led to its current success. I was back-up co-chair for JPHIT, which coordinated informatics activities across the major, national public health associations. I have participated in various CDC activities and discussions regarding informatics, such PHIN, the APHL LIMS requirements update workgroup, and the Digital Bridge.  I've worked with Johns Hopkins’ ESSENCE creators, and, through one of my staff, participated in the initiation of the Distribute flu surveillance system.  I was a member of NACCHO’s epidemiology workgroup when it formed in 2010, and NACCHO’s informatics workgroup since 2010, as chair since 2012. I have been an officer on the ISDS board since 2016.

Regarding health information exchanges and interactions with health care informatics, while at MCHPD I was lead point of contact with the Regenstrief Institute (one of the world's leading health informatics organizations, located here in Indianapolis), with the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE).  I worked with them off and on from 2003 through 2006, and much more intensively after 2006, when we began receiving a series of grant to explore how public health agencies may leverage HIE.  Among other projects, we developed what were novel uses of the HIE for public health purposes, including sending outbreak alerts to physicians, automated reportable disease screening of almost all clinical laboratory results for our jurisdiction's residence, and enhancing laboratory case report data with improved physician contact information.