Jeb Weisman, PhD
Jeb Weisman, PhD, is Director of Global Health Informatics. He leads the Arnhold Institute for Global Health’s design and informatics initiatives, applying unique methods, tools, technologies, and multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives to complex global health challenges. His work centers on and supports novel applications of available technologies to address health information challenges and disparities on a global scale.
In this Q&A, he discusses his career journey and what inspired him to work in global health.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
I was born in the Canary Islands but grew up in the New York area. I’m happy to say I’ve lived and worked quite a few places around the world. I hold a doctorate in anthropology and have more than 35 years in health information systems. Though both anthropology and computer systems have been part of my life since the late 1960s, I’ve been an archaeologist, software developer, member of disaster response teams, textbook editor, and university faculty and CIO. I also worked once as a bouncer in Hawaii.
What inspired you to get into your career?
I’ve been inspired by the lives and philosophies of friends, colleagues, and human action through history. I prefer to do things that help people, through which I learn new things, and get to make a tangible difference. And I like to repurpose existing things—objects, ideas, approaches—to address existing needs. Still, I can’t say I’ve followed a career path in the traditional sense or even had a specific career in mind.
I decided at a very young age that I wanted to be an anthropologist, but less as a profession and more as an approach to understanding the world in which I was growing up. At the same time, I had a fascination for technologies that were maturing in the 1960s and 1970s, including computer programming. I learned to apply the ideas and practices embedded in my studies and interests to the occupations that presented themselves. Today I combine all the things I’ve studied and worked at into a useful and flexible skill set that serves the work I do every day.
What do you like most about working at the Institute?
The list is extensive, but here are a few. I like that my work and the work of my colleagues can have a direct and lasting impact on the quality of life of the people with whom we work, as well as the challenge of scaling this work. I like that I work with smart people who truly lead with a desire to make an enduring difference. And I like that working at the Institute forces me constantly to evaluate assumptions, and to adapt theory, knowledge, and skills to the work.
What led you to work in global health and what do you like about it?
I had done international work in disaster preparedness and response technology, archaeology, and cultural and forensic anthropology for a number of years before joining the Institute. So, the transition was fairly organic. All the pieces were in place waiting for the opportunity to present itself. As for why I like it, for the same reasons I like working at the Institute: enduring impact, smart people, scale, and constant challenges to my world view.
Can you tell us more about your research and how it has affected your work?
My work tends toward the applied, though sometimes it is in support of the academic research of others. One of the paths that led me here was translating social science to action. What we now call Translational Social Science (TSS). One of the best examples of TSS, for which I can take no credit, is Social Determinants of Health—which is now pervasive.
Combining TSS with informatics, I’ve developed and taught TSS courses, particularly in the context of digital health interventions. These interventions cover everything from EHRs and telehealth to all the devices we use to monitor our health and well-being. How do they shape us? What aren’t we seeing or misunderstanding when we use them? What are the unintended consequences and how do we think about and anticipate what we don’t yet understand? Social science, information systems and technology, and global health have come together in a way that lets me contribute to the global work that the Institute and Mount Sinai are doing in places such as Guyana and our other global partners, from Nepal to New York City.
What is some advice you would give someone looking to go into informatics?
Informatics is an enormous field with many, many sub-specialties, some very technical, others organizational, and still others process oriented. As you find the facet of informatics that most interests you and matches your skills, connect those skills with your unique life experience. Through this approach you can extend the value of your informatics work to the social, lived world. Hopefully, one result is that you create the basis for change and inspire new ideas and ways of doing things. And don’t worry if your path is not a straight line.