Biography

Eric W. K. Sid, M.D., M.H.A., is a program officer in NCATS’ Division of Rare Diseases Research Innovation, where he is the lead for the Genetic and Rare Diseases (GARD) Information Center. GARD provides free, comprehensive, plain-language information on rare and genetic diseases to the public and is accessible through both GARD’s website and contact center. Sid is the lead for the Rare Diseases Registry (RaDaR) program, which offers guidance for establishing and maintaining patient registries. He also oversees the NCATS Toolkit for Patient-Focused Therapy Development, which disseminates best practices for patient-partnered research through collaborations between patients and caregivers, community organizations, researchers and NIH/U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff. He has worked to modernize the services and resources offered by these programs through participation in innovation initiatives from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the HHS Ignite Accelerator and HHS Data Science Co-Lab. Sid has served on scientific committees that address clinical data standards, informed consent for international researchers and public health systems research.

Sid received his M.D. and M.H.A. degrees from the University of Washington’s School of Medicine and School of Public Health, respectively. In 2019, he completed his Presidential Management Fellowship, which included a rotation with the VA Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. The PMF program is the premier leadership development program for the federal government.

Research Topics

Sid’s research interests include systems-level methods to address health disparities; use of data science in empowering patient decision-making; collaborative patient-partnered research practices; and population health approaches to reducing diagnostic error, particularly for underserved patients or patients with a rare disease.