UT System’s Chin to help guide policy on global health

AUSTIN— Lynda Chin, M.D., the UT System’s chief innovation officer for health affairs, has been appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to a committee that will help guide U.S. policy on global health.

Dr. Chin is one of 14 members appointed to the Committee on Global Health and the Future of the United States by the National Academies, the U.S. government’s most influential adviser on public policy decisions related to science, technology and medicine. Dr. Chin and her fellow members are among the nation’s thought leaders on global health and global health security, infectious and non-communicable chronic diseases, as well as technology and business innovations.

The committee will meet regularly over the next six months to draft an authoritative, independent, apolitical, evidence-based report to inform and guide the new presidential administration in framing its own global health agenda. The report will examine America’s interest in global health in a humanitarian, economic and security context, and articulate the most effective and sustainable approaches to global health investment by the United States in the decade to come.

Dr. Chin, an accomplished physician scientist and a member of the prestigious National Academy of Medicine, currently is spear-heading the UT System’s Project DOC, (Diabetes Obesity Control), which uses innovative new technology and cross-enterprise collaborations so that diabetic patients in South Texas have better access to care and more effective control of the chronic disease.

“In today’s world, global health is local health. Project DOC has taught us lessons that are directly applicable to challenges elsewhere,” said Dr. Chin, also director of UT System’s Institute for Health Transformation. “Project DOC has put us at the forefront of innovation in data, analytics and transforming our health care ecosystem. I am proud that the work here in our own backyard can contribute to a broader health strategy domestically and globally.”

Prior to joining the UT System in 2015, Dr. Chin was the founding chair of Genomic Medicine and scientific director of the Institute for Applied Cancer Science at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. She has made multiple scientific discoveries spanning the fields of transcription, telomere biology, cancer genomics, and personalized cancer medicine, and more recently big data and cognitive analytics. Dr. Chin is internationally known for her pioneering work in genomics and analytics and has won numerous distinguished honors for her scientific contributions.

“Dr. Chin is a thought leader in developing bold and innovative health care solutions,” said Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice chancellor for health affairs. “The National Academies’ committee – and the nation’s health care policy – will benefit greatly from Dr. Chin’s expertise and vision."

About The University of Texas System

Educating students, providing care for patients, conducting groundbreaking basic, applied and clinical research, and serving the needs of Texans and the nation for more than 130 years, The University of Texas System is one of the largest public university systems in the United States. With 14 institutions and an enrollment of more than 221,000, the UT System confers more than one-third of the state’s undergraduate degrees, educates almost two-thirds of the state’s health care professionals annually and accounts for almost 70 percent of all research funds awarded to public institutions in Texas. The UT System’s operating budget for FY 2017 is $17.9 billion, including $3 billion in sponsored programs funded by federal, state, local and private sources. With more than 20,000 faculty – including Nobel laureates and many members of the National Academies – and nearly 80,000 health care professionals, researchers, student advisors and support staff, the UT System is one of the largest employers in the state.