Donald Goldmann, MD
As Chief Scientific Officer, Emeritus, and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Dr. Goldmann focuses on deepening the credibility of improvement science by forging relationships with key scientific, academic, and health services research organizations. He has experience across the translational research continuum (bench science, epidemiology, clinical trials, and implementation research). He advances the rigor of IHI’s results-oriented work by deploying sound project design and program evaluation methods appropriate for the context in which improvement initiatives are conducted. Dr. Goldmann advocates for integration of improvement science with both HIT/technology and epidemiology to accelerate progress towards vibrant and effective learning health systems, clinical decision support, and population health and equity. Dr. Goldmann explores new ways to teach, bringing promising innovations to in-person and distance-learning. He is lead faculty for a IHI/HarvardX Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Practical Improvement Science, which has been expanded to an on-line credit course at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. He is Co-director for the Harvard-Wide Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship Program he founded (funded since 1994 via NRSA T32 Training Grants). He leads a Harvard College General Education course that explores how infectious diseases lead to social injustice and influence history, art, and literature.
Dr. Goldmann has a keen interest in helping clinical teams integrate rigorous quality improvement into their routine work, while mitigating clinician burnout and liberating the intrinsic motivation that clinician bring to health care. He is particularly devoted catalyzing sustainable improvement in under-resources settings globally and in engaging medical trainees in quality improvement. Dr. Goldmann has served as Chair of the AHRQ National Advisory Council and the Board of AcademyHealth, and he is Vice-Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Institute for Medicaid Innovation. He also serves on a number of advisory committees and boards, including the National Quality Forum’s Primary Care and Chronic Illness Standing Committee. He is Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.