Health Data Research UK has today announced that Principal Deputy Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr Amy Abernethy MD PhD, will chair Health Data Research UK’s International Advisory Board. Amy brings unique experience and insight to guiding Health Data Research UK in its quest to unite the UK’s health data to enable discoveries that improve people’s lives, having worked in academia, industry and now government in roles that relate to healthcare.

Prior to her role at the FDA, Amy was Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer at Flatiron Health, a healthcare technology company focused on organising clinical cancer data and making it actionable for providers, patients, researchers and life sciences.  She is a medical oncologist, former Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Centre, and international expert in real world evidence, clinical trials, and patient reported outcome measures.

The newly established International Advisory Board will play a critical role in ensuring Health Data Research UK’s work is focused on scientific and technical excellence and relevance, and will identify and recommend emerging challenges and opportunities. The Board will also advise Health Data Research UK on building its international profile and ensure it maximises its impact for the benefit of public and patients around the world.

Professor Andrew Morris, Director of Health Data Research UK, said: “We are incredibly fortunate to welcome FDA’s Amy Abernethy to the Health Data Research UK family and look forward to working with her to appoint a stellar board of members to support our development as a world-class health data science institute.”