by Paul Govern
The National Institutes of Health have announced the appointment of Kevin Johnson, MD, MS, to the NIH Council of Councils.
Johnson is the Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor and chair of Biomedical Informatics, professor of Pediatrics and Informatician-in-Chief at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
In 2006 Congress established the Council of Councils to advise the NIH director regarding health research, rising public health challenges and knowledge gaps that call for strategic planning and coordination. The council’s 27 members are nominated by NIH institutes and centers and the office of the director. Johnson’s appointment to the council runs through October 2024.
Johnson is an internationally respected developer and evaluator of clinical information technology, with interests in the application of clinical information systems to improve patient safety and compliance with practice guidelines, use of mobile computer technologies in medicine, and development of computer-based clinical documentation systems for the point of care.
The author of more than 100 academic publications, Johnson was elected into the American College of Medical Informatics in 2004 and the National Academy of Medicine in 2010. He has held various committee and leadership positions with the American Board of Pediatrics, the National Library of Medicine, the American Medical Informatics Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
