NEW YORK (December 5, 2017) – Dr. Said Ibrahim, a leading physician-scientist whose research focuses on healthcare disparities, has been named the inaugural chief of the newly established Division of Healthcare Delivery Science and Innovation in the Department of Healthcare Policy and Research at Weill Cornell Medicine, effective Feb. 1. Dr. Ibrahim will also serve as the department’s vice chair for development and strategy.
The Division of Healthcare Delivery Science and Innovation will spearhead the development, implementation and evaluation of patient-focused clinical innovations, seeking to improve both quality and equity of healthcare delivery across diverse populations. Initiatives may focus on enhancing patient safety, improving population health through accountable care organizations, and increasing healthcare access and efficiency through technological advancements such as remote patient monitoring and electronic prescribing programs. The division will also house the Executive MBA/MS Healthcare Leadership Program, which Weill Cornell Medicine and the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University established in 2016. The two-year, dual-degree program will provide the next generation of healthcare leaders with the requisite skills to tackle changes in healthcare systems’ structure, payment and regulatory requirements.
Dr. Said Ibrahim
Technological advances, coupled with policy efforts to improve access to quality healthcare, are transforming the U.S. healthcare industry at a rapid pace. As division chief, Dr. Ibrahim will drive Weill Cornell Medicine’s efforts in developing innovative solutions to optimize the equity and quality of health systems, exploring ways to leverage emerging technology to improve healthcare delivery and efficiency. To achieve these objectives, he will recruit a diverse cadre of researchers interested in healthcare transformation whose vital work can inform local and national health policy and, ultimately, improve public health.
Dr. Ibrahim is currently a professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. He is co-director of the Department of Veteran Affairs’ National Center of Innovation for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP) and the director of the CHERP Center in Philadelphia.
“We are thrilled that Dr. Ibrahim will be joining our team,” said Dr. Rainu Kaushal, chair of the Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, the Nanette Laitman Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Policy and Research, and a professor of medicine and of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine. “He is a thoughtful and innovative leader committed to advancing healthcare equity and improving health systems through innovation. He is a terrific mentor as evidenced by his current leadership of the Veteran Affairs’ Center, CHERP. I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
“I’m very interested in where research and health equity meet healthcare innovation and technology, and I feel that these new roles will really put me at the center of that interface,” Dr. Ibrahim said. “What I hope to bring to Weill Cornell Medicine is the vision, advocacy and desire to promote a scientifically sound mission to advance both healthcare quality and equity. Healthcare is rapidly changing, and I want to ensure that everyone benefits from that change.”
The new division rounds out the Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, complementing its four other divisions: Biostatistics and Epidemiology; Comparative Effectiveness and Outcomes Research; Health Informatics; and Health Policy and Economics.
In his role as vice chair, Dr. Ibrahim will work closely with Dr. Kaushal on the department’s development and growth — which will include faculty recruitment, retention and mentorship — and on strategies to augment the department’s position as a leader in healthcare transformation and innovation throughout the country. Fostering key collaborations will also be a focus for Dr. Ibrahim, as the department seeks to enhance its partnership with NewYork-Presbyterian and build relationships with investigators at Cornell Tech — leveraging their technology expertise — and neighboring healthcare institutions, including Hospital for Special Surgery and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
“My goal is to ensure that our efforts in healthcare innovation not only promote efficiency and excellence of care but reduce disparities in healthcare quality and access,” Dr. Ibrahim said. “As one of the most diverse cities in the world, New York is emerging as an epicenter of healthcare innovation. Combine this with the new energy and vibrant leadership at Weill Cornell, the expansion of NewYork-Presbyterian’s health system and the burgeoning Cornell Tech campus, I cannot imagine a more suitable place to pursue this vision than at Weill Cornell Medicine."
About Dr. Said Ibrahim
As a clinician-investigator, Dr. Ibrahim led a research program on racial disparities in healthcare, specifically regarding the use of joint replacement for the management of end-stage osteoarthritis. He conducted foundational work identifying the lower preference for surgery among minority patients as a key reason for this disparity. His subsequent research revealed that tools that provide evidence-based medical information for patients significantly increased minority patients’ willingness to undergo elective joint replacement. His research has informed national policy at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and his scholarly work in this area has been continuously federally funded for more than 15 years. A Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health supports his mentoring of future generations of health equity investigators in a broad range of areas, including musculoskeletal care.
Dr. Ibrahim received his bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He completed his internship and residency training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He later attended the Clinical Effectiveness Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he also earned a master’s degree in public health. Most recently, Dr. Ibrahim received a master’s degree in business administration from MIT Sloan School of Management.
Dr. Ibrahim’s work has led to more than 130 peer-reviewed publications in top journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Annals of Internal Medicine, the American Journal of Public Health and the Journal of General Internal Medicine. He is a recipient of the Harold Amos Faculty Development Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and both entry level and advanced level VA Health Services Research and Career Development Awards. On a national level, Dr. Ibrahim has served as a member of NIAMS’s Clinical Trials Study Section and as a council member of the NIH’s National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities. He was secretary of the Society for General Internal Medicine — where he was also the program committee chair for the society’s 2006 annual meeting and sat on its council — and served as treasurer and member of the International Society for Equity in Health’s Executive Committee. Dr. Ibrahim also served as the associate editor of the American Journal of Public Health and was an editorial board member of the Journal for General Internal Medicine.
Weill Cornell Medicine
Weill Cornell Medicine is committed to excellence in patient care, scientific discovery and the education of future physicians in New York City and around the world. The doctors and scientists of Weill Cornell Medicine — faculty from Weill Cornell Medical College, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and Weill Cornell Physician Organization — are engaged in world-class clinical care and cutting-edge research that connect patients to the latest treatment innovations and prevention strategies. Located in the heart of the Upper East Side’s scientific corridor, Weill Cornell Medicine’s powerful network of collaborators extends to its parent university Cornell University; to Qatar, where Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar offers a Cornell University medical degree; and to programs in Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Weill Cornell Medicine faculty provide comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Queens. Weill Cornell Medicine is also affiliated with Houston Methodist. For more information, visit weill.cornell.edu.