Suzanne Bakken, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FIAHSI, Alumni Professor of Nursing and Biomedical Informatics of Columbia University (Columbia), is an interdisciplinary leading scholar in the field of biomedical informatics. Dr. Bakken has made innumerable contributions in the areas of terminology and standards, quality improvement, informatics approaches to reducing health disparities, and advanced visualization throughout her career spanning over four decades. 

Her research focuses on improving health and well-being— exploring how biomedical informatics reveals and helps mitigate health disparities. Dr. Bakken’s holistic view of data’s potential to revolutionize clinical practice has led her to consult nationally and internationally in the field of informatics. 

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Dr. Bakken’s commitment to scholarly inquiry is evidenced through her over 300 publications and citations as well as her 25 years of continuous research, supported by federal as well as private funding. The continuity of her science demonstrates her incredible ability to conceptualize, conduct, and produce meaningful outcomes that are evidence-based. Dr. Bakken was the inaugural principal investigator (PI) of the first informatics T32 grant. Funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, Reducing Health Disparities Through Informatics, is now in its 22nd year, demonstrating her commitment to addressing issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility through informatics. Dr. Bakken is currently the only nurse serving as a PI in the National Institutes of Health’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics for Underserved Populations Initiative. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Bakken led efforts to develop a visualization toolbox of culturally congruent health messages to combat misinformation related to the COVID-19 vaccine and testing hesitancy.

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Dr. Bakken has also served as a reviewer for multiple reports and on several influential committees such the Committee on Data Standards for Patient Safety, Committee on Return of Individual-Specific Results Generated in Research Laboratories, as well as the Committee on the Review of the Adoption and Implementation of Health Information Technology Standards by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. 

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She serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. Throughout her tenure in this role, Dr. Bakken has elevated the journal by strengthening the rigor of publications, creating special issues to address emerging trends, expanding the number of submissions and increasing the impact of the journal. 

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Dr. Bakken has been awarded with over 30 international and national honors and awards, including the François Grémy Award, the highest international recognition in biomedical informatics, and the Morris Collen Award, the primary award recognizing sustained superior contributions to the field of biomedical informatics. Dr. Bakken was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researchers Hall of Fame and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. She was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1995.