Biography

Kenneth Gersing joined NCATS' Division of Clinical Innovation as the director of informatics in January 2017. His focus is on the advancement of integrated health and research data and the use of cutting-edge informatics technology to translate discovery data into improved patient outcomes. Before joining NCATS, he served as the director of clinical information services in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Duke University Medical Center. At Duke, Gersing’s work focused on the use of evidence-based electronic information systems to improve quality and efficacy of mental health care. In 1999, Gersing created MindLinc, an electronic medical record and practice management system, and served as its chief information officer until December 2015. He earned his medical degree in 1993 at the University of Washington in Seattle and completed his psychiatric residency at Duke in 1997.

During his career, Gersing has received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Science Foundation, and multiple private/public industry grants and contracts. He has served as a conference speaker and advisory committee member for industry and academic centers. Gersing has published or presented more than 50 papers and posters in the field of medical informatics, including the use of “Big Data” in prospective/retrospective research, computer visualization, clinical decision support, patient privacy, predictive modeling for psychiatric disorders, behavioral health ontologies, electronic health records (EHRs) as single source in clinical trials, integrating EHRs, and continuing medical education in medical informatics.

Research Topics

In addition to his work in informatics, Gersing is a geriatric psychiatrist and was the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on 25 clinical trials in the fields of research in depression, bipolar disorder, dementia and mild cognitive impairment.