Lydia N Drumright

I am an epidemiologist and health informatician with an interdisciplinary background centering on innovative use of routinely collected health data, clinical decision support (CDS), evaluation of health interventions, substance use epidemiology, HIV and aging, and the dynamics between behavioral, social, biological, and environmental factors for disease. My research has taken a multidisciplinary approach to data science with an emphasis on utilizing modern technologies to understand significant human health issues. My early career focused on the intersections between substance use and HIV and HCV, with a strong emphasis on individual, partnership and network-level risk assessment. Following my relocation to the UK, I developed my skills in data science and health informatics, leading to an Alan Turing Fellowship and position as University Lecturer in Clinical Informatics at the University of Cambridge. I established the ethical and computing infrastructure to harness electronic medical data for research from the UK’s first fully integrated electronic health record system for tertiary and acute care (Epic at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust). From this platform, I developed clinical informatics tools, novel surveillance methods, large research studies, and decision support. Throughout my career I have led teams across large research consortia, bridging interdisciplinary elements. Much of my research has been directly translational, supporting policy, surveillance and health interventions. My current research activities include leading a coordinating center for substance use and HIV cohorts, understanding rapid aging among people with HIV, developing and evaluating clinical decision support tools for controlled medication prescribing, using technology to support better clinical outcomes, and harnessing high-tech solutions to support research and surveillance in low- and middle-income settings. In addition to my research experience, I have a wealth of experience in mentoring pre- and post-doctoral trainees and have contributed to university leadership through chairing university and national ethics committees, co-directing an interdisciplinary research center and serving on other executive and regulatory committees.