Curtis L Cole

Curtis L Cole is a Clinical Associate Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine (Cornell University) with appointments in Population Health Sciences (2020-present), Libraries and Information Technology (2019-present), and Medicine (2006-present). As Chief Information Officer (CIO), he directs the Wood Library, core IT infrastructure, software development, telephony, and enterprise applications including EMRs, research systems, and the ERP. His leadership spans implementation of clinical information systems across outpatient/inpatient EMRs, diagnostic platforms, and revenue cycle systems, plus development of Weill Cornell's data dictionary (TruData©) and clinical data warehouse.

His educational background includes:

• A.B. from Bowdoin College (1986)
• M.D. from Cornell University Medical College (1994)
• Leadership Development of Physicians in Academic Health Centers at Harvard University (1999)
• Executive Development Program at Kellogg School of Business, Northwestern University (2002)

Dr. Cole's research centers on medical informatics with emphasis on secondary use of EMR data for research, genomic data integration into EHRs for precision medicine, and practical technology solutions for healthcare improvement. He pioneered Weill Cornell's clinical genomic information system enabling live whole-exome data feeds into EMR and co-developed the Insight Clinical Data Research Network aggregating NYC academic medical center data. His work investigates prescribing error reduction, patient safety alerts, physician productivity metrics, and patient portal impacts, consistently bridging technical innovation with clinical applicability.

Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals three dominant trajectories: (1) AI-driven clinical innovation (e.g., patient reidentification, evidence synthesis), (2) EHR optimization for research (e.g., data linkage, race data quality, cohort discovery), and (3) research infrastructure (e.g., federated networks, electronic consent systems). His work demonstrates increasing focus on ethical AI deployment and genomic data integration, with practical applications in precision medicine and clinical trial support.

Scientific recognition includes:

• David B. Skinner Award for Administrative Stewardship (1996, 1998) from New York Presbyterian Hospital

Dr. Cole serves as Principal Investigator for the David Rogers Health Policy Colloquium (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2022-2032) and sits on the AHRQ Health Information Technology Research Study Section. He actively mentors students and faculty in developing clinical technology solutions despite no specific advisees listed in the text. Current grant work focuses on health policy frameworks and genomic data integration infrastructure.

He leads Weill Cornell's clinical data infrastructure team, directing development of TruData©, the i2b2 instance, and novel research data repository services. His group implemented the first live whole-exome data feed into EMR and supports the multi-institutional Insight Clinical Data Research Network. Current initiatives include expanding EHR capabilities for precision medicine and developing AI tools for clinical evidence synthesis while addressing ethical constraints.