Distinguished Oncologist and Cancer Data Researcher, Dr. Amy Abernethy, Joins Flatiron Health as Chief Medical Officer and SVP of Oncology
Hire boosts Flatiron Health's efforts to improve cancer care by revolutionizing cancer data and analytics
NEW YORK, NY, July 2, 2014 — Flatiron Health is announcing the appointment of Amy Abernethy, MD, PhD, as the new chief medical officer and senior vice president of oncology. Dr. Abernethy is an internationally recognized oncologist and cancer researcher from Duke University and the co-director of both the Duke Center for Learning Health Care and the Duke Cancer Care Research Program. For more than a decade, she has pioneered the development of technology platforms to spur novel advancements in cancer care, including the development of systems by which big data can support personalized medicine and scientific discovery.
Dr. Abernethy will help direct Flatiron Health through the next phase of the company's growth. Flatiron Health aims to improve cancer care by organizing the world's real-world oncology data and making it useful for patients, physicians and researchers. Dr. Abernethy's expertise will support the practical implementation of personalized cancer care by helping Flatiron Health provide the data that enables the right patient to get the right therapy at the right time.
"We are at a critical crossroads in cancer care," said Dr. Abernethy. "Cancer data science has the potential to improve the lives of countless patients and families. But we still need to develop the strategic and operational pathways. Flatiron Health has the vision and ingenuity needed to revolutionize cancer care and I'm excited to be a member of the team working to solve this puzzle."
"Being able to recruit one of the industry's top cancer physicians and cancer data scientists, who is also a major proponent of patient-centered care, is a huge boost to Flatiron Health's efforts," said Nat Turner, Flatiron Health's co-founder. "Dr. Abernethy's hire, along with our recent successful funding round and acquisition of Altos Solutions, will help Flatiron Health move quickly to address the data opportunity in cancer."
At Flatiron Health, Dr. Abernethy will collaborate with cancer care providers, life science companies and data partners to solve practical data and analytic problems. She will lead the clinical and oncology data teams, and contribute to the strategic vision of Flatiron Health. Dr. Abernethy will be on a leave of absence from the majority of her responsibilities at Duke University in order to advance this mission.
"Amy is the kind of person who can see the strategic opportunity of using data, as well as managing the operational details of working with the data, ensuring that it is of highest quality, optimizing analytic platforms and coming up with creative ways to use real-time data to support better cancer care," said Leo Nicacio, MD, Vice President of Oncology at Flatiron Health. "Her expertise will propel Flatiron Health forward and help us improve cancer care for all patients."
Amy P. Abernethy, MD PhD is a medical oncologist and palliative care physician. Prior to joining Flatiron Health, she was Professor of Medicine in the Duke University School of Medicine, Director of the Duke Center for Learning Health Care (CLHC) in the Duke Clinical Research Institute, and Director of the Duke Cancer Care Research Program (DCCRP) in the Duke Cancer Institute. With over 375 publications, she is an internationally recognized expert in health services research, comparative effectiveness research, patient reported outcomes, clinical informatics and patient-centered care. Dr. Abernethy has many important roles that contribute to her background knowledge of cancer care, cancer data, and learning health systems. She is an appointee to the Institute of Medicine's National Cancer Policy Forum, Immediate Past President of the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine, Secretary of the Board of Directors for the Personalized Medicine Coalition, and leader within several federally-funded research networks. She serves on the Advisory Committee of the Turning the Tide Against Cancer policy initiative. She also serves on the Board of Directors for athenahealth.
About Flatiron Health, Inc.
Flatiron Health is a health care technology company and operator of the OncologyCloud™ platform. Integrating across the entire clinical data spectrum, Flatiron Health allows cancer care providers and life science companies to gain deep business and clinical intelligence through its web-based platform. The company was started by Nat Turner and Zach Weinberg, two of the founders of Invite Media, and is backed by Google Ventures, First Round Capital, LabCorp, and other venture capital groups and angel investors. For more information, please visit www.flatiron.com.
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