This panel will explore social determinants of health (SDoH) to address healthcare outcomes to advance health equity. The program mission, IT and informatic initiatives and data modernization will be discussed.

Speaker (s):

Craig W. Thomas, Ph.D., MS
Director, Division of Population Health
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

As Director of the Division of Population Health within CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Dr. Thomas directs a broad portfolio of programmatic and applied research activities focused on improving population health across the lifespan.  Specific topic areas include aging, arthritis, epilepsy, excessive alcohol use, healthy schools, tribal health, and applied epidemiology and prevention research.  In this role he oversees the collection and reporting of national, state, and local population health data on chronic disease conditions and risk factors, and works in collaboration with national partner organizations, other federal agencies, and state and local health departments to implement program and policy strategies that drive improvements in population health and wellbeing. 

Dr. Thomas joined CDC in 1998 where he has held leadership positions within a variety of public health programs including CDC’s HIV and AIDS Prevention Program, The Guide to Community Preventive Services, the Public Health Preparedness and Response Program, the National Public Health Improvement Initiative, and the PHHS Block Grant.  Most recently Dr. Thomas served as Director of the Division of Public Health Performance Improvement within the Office for State Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support (OSTLTS), where he developed and led a division focused on providing guidance and strategic direction on a system of performance and accountability to improve STLT public health performance and health outcomes.  A recognized expert in continuous quality improvement, program evaluation, systems thinking, multi-sector collaboration, and population health improvement, Dr. Thomas brings over 25 years’ experience working with STLTs, local communities, non-profit organizations, national public health partners, and other federal agencies. 

Dr. Thomas began his public health career in Southern California where he earned a PhD in social psychology and applied research methods from Claremont Graduate University, a M.S in experimental psychology from California State University Fullerton, and a B.A. in biological sciences from the University of California Irvine.  He has authored over 35 peer-reviewed publications, coauthored 3 book chapters, and taught several courses in public heath practice, evaluation, and applied research methods. 
 

Timothy J. Carney, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Office of Informatics and Information Resource Management
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Timothy Jay Carney currently serves as the Associate Director, Office of Informatics and Information Resource Management (OIIRM) within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP). Tim returned to the CDC to assume the OIIRM Director's role in August 2019. Tim previously worked at the CDC as a Public Health Informatics Fellow within the Public Health Practice Program Office (PHPPO) (1998-2000) and as an Informatics Specialist within NCCDPHP (2000-2007). 

Tim's previous affiliations include serving as Director of Health Policy Research, Data Science and Analytics at the Satcher Health Leadership Institute-Morehouse School of Medicine (SHLI-MSM) (2018-2019);  Senior Director, Data Analytics and Public Health Informatics (DAPHI) at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) (2017-2018); Post-Doctoral Fellow and Assistant Professor for Public Health Informatics at the University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he taught graduate-level informatics courses and conducted applied informatics research (2012-2107). Tim is still an adjunct Assistant Professor at UNC. Tim is also the Founder and Chief Advisor of the Global Health Equity Intelligence Collaborative (GHEIC), LLC (est. 2014). GHEIC, LLC seeks to leverage innovative technology as a tool to foster empowered and smart health practices for eliminating health disparities, achieving health equity, and addressing the Social Determinants of Health.

Tim has practiced in the field of informatics for over 15 years. Tim completed a PhD in Health Informatics from Indiana University, an MPH in Health Systems Management from Tulane University, and an MBA in Information Science and Project Management from Devry-Keller Graduate School of Management. Current informatics research and applied informatics practice areas include: Leveraging Health IT for Health Equity/Health Disparities; Chronic Disease Surveillance; Public Health Intelligence; Computational Modeling of Social and Organizational Systems; Dynamic Network Analysis; Electronic Clinical Decision Support;  CBPR-Community-based Knowledge Exchange Networks; IT Needs, Capabilities, and Readiness Assessment Design; and Public Health Situational Awareness. Tim’s informatics efforts focus on the evaluation of health information technology as an agent of change in smart, intelligent, and adaptive learning health systems. Tim has taught graduate-level courses entitled: (1) Diagnosis and Design of Multilevel Intelligence for a Smart Health System, (2) Informatics for Population Health Management, and (3) co-developed an Introduction to Public Health Informatics.
 

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