Ziad Obermeyer

Dr. Ziad Obermeyer is the Blue Cross of California Distinguished Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health. He is an academic and researcher whose work focuses on the application of machine learning in healthcare. His research aims to improve medical decision-making by developing tools that address issues such as heart attack diagnostics, overlooked causes of pain, and racial bias in medical algorithms. His findings have influenced industry practices, shaped policy, and prompted regulatory changes.

Dr. Obermeyer co-leads a research lab in collaboration with the University of Chicago. The lab develops AI tools to improve healthcare decision-making and advance understanding of medical science. He is also a co-founder of Nightingale Open Science, a nonprofit organisation providing large medical imaging datasets to researchers, and Dandelion, a startup promoting AI innovation in healthcare.

Recognised as one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in AI, Dr. Obermeyer has received various accolades, including the National Institutes of Health Early Independence Award. His work on algorithmic bias in healthcare has been widely cited and has led to testimony before the US Senate Finance Committee.

Dr. Obermeyer has published extensively in prestigious journals, including Science, Nature Medicine, and the New England Journal of Medicine. His publications address topics such as healthcare costs, predictive modelling, and algorithmic bias in clinical decision-making. He has also co-authored guidelines on reducing bias in healthcare algorithms.

Dr. Obermeyer is a practising emergency medicine physician and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He holds an MD from Harvard Medical School, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and a BA from Harvard College. Before his academic career, he worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company.

Ziad Obermeyer was born and raised in the United States. He pursued his higher education at prestigious institutions, earning a BA from Harvard College and later an MPhil from the University of Cambridge. He went on to complete his MD at Harvard Medical School, where he laid the foundation for a career that combined medicine, research, and technology.

Ziad initially worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, advising pharmaceutical and global health clients in New Jersey, Geneva, and Tokyo. After gaining valuable industry experience, he transitioned into academia and medicine, training in emergency medicine. He continues to practice as an emergency physician in underserved areas of the United States.

Ziad started his academic career as an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, where he received the prestigious Early Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health. In 2019, he joined the University of California, Berkeley, as the Blue Cross of California Distinguished Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management. His research focuses on applying machine learning to healthcare to improve medical decision-making, such as enhancing diagnostics for heart attacks, uncovering overlooked causes of pain, and addressing racial bias in widely used medical algorithms.

Ziad co-leads a research lab jointly established by Berkeley and the University of Chicago, which develops AI tools to improve healthcare delivery. He co-founded Nightingale Open Science, a nonprofit organisation that provides large-scale medical imaging datasets for research. He also co-founded Dandelion, a startup advancing AI innovation in healthcare.

His work has been widely published in leading journals, including Science, Nature Medicine, and the New England Journal of Medicine. He has contributed to understanding healthcare costs, predictive modelling, and algorithmic bias, and his findings have influenced policy, prompted regulatory changes, and been cited in congressional testimony.

Currently, Ziad is recognised as one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in AI. He serves as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and as a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator. Ziad continues to lead research at the intersection of AI and healthcare, contributing to innovations that improve patient outcomes and health equity worldwide.

Ziad envisions a future where artificial intelligence is fully integrated into healthcare to improve medical decision-making and patient outcomes. He aims to create tools that help doctors identify diseases earlier, address disparities in healthcare, and reduce bias in medical algorithms. Through initiatives like Nightingale Open Science and Dandelion, he seeks to advance medical research and drive innovation in AI-powered health solutions. His work focuses on bridging the gap between technology and medicine, ensuring that advancements in machine learning benefit patients equitably and contribute to a more efficient and fair healthcare system globally.

Ziad Obermeyer has received several notable awards throughout his career. In 2012, he was honoured with the Early Independence Award from the National Institutes of Health, recognising his exceptional contributions as a junior scientist. In 2020, the National Academy of Medicine named him an Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine, acknowledging his research at the intersection of healthcare and machine learning. He received the Willard G. Manning Memorial Award for outstanding research in health econometrics in 2021.

In 2022, he was appointed as a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator and received the Responsible Business Education Award from the Financial Times. In 2023, Ziad was included in TIME magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence and received the Arrow Award from the International Health Economics Association for his contributions to health economics.

Additionally, he was recognised on Edelman’s “AI Creators You Need to Know” list for his pioneering work in advancing AI applications in healthcare.