Leadership and Governance

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Professor Julie Jacko, Interim Director

Professor Julie Jacko is Interim Director of the Usher Institute.

Julie joined us in 2023 as co-leader of the Centre for Medical Informatics, focusing on creating/co-creating innovative discovery, solutions, partnerships, programs, systems and collaboratives in health informatics and population health that produce sustainable impact.

Previous to that, Julie moved from the Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she served as Professor and Founding Chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences and Professor in the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Professor Jacko received her BS, MS and PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.

Her expertise in health informatics, health IT, population health, and human-computer interaction have generated a career lifetime total exceeding $30 million in externally funded research as either PI or Co-PI. She has over 15,850 total citations. With an h-index of 54 overall, her 180+ publications have appeared in preeminent scientific journals. She was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honour awarded to early career research investigators by the US government. Numerous awards since have positioned her at the forefront of her field.

Passionately committed to addressing historic health disparities for marginalised populations, and vulnerable, under-resourced communities, her recent research funding includes a $1M grant awarded by the Health Foundation of South Florida to lead the PATHWell Collaborative, a public-private partnership focused on achieving health equity for Florida's most disadvantaged communities. She is also the recent PI/Project Director on a Florida Blue Foundation grant focused on preventing opioid and substance abuse by South Florida's vulnerable youth, through education, research, and community health interventions.

An expert consultant in the manufacturing, healthcare and IT sectors, Professor Jacko often serves as a strategist for organisations seeking to improve productivity, profitability, and impact. She has an innate passion for entrepreneurial endeavours. In 2015, she was recognised as a top entrepreneur in Miami for having created “one of the city’s most prolific businesses".

Professor Julie Jacko's profile

Senior Leadership Team

The Usher Institute Interim Director is supported by the wider Usher Institute Executive as the key strategic decision making committee of the Institute - responsible collectively for management, policy and procedures of the Institute.

The Usher Institute Executive includes representation from each Usher neighbourhood in the Usher Building - the Heads of Centres for Biomedicine, Self and Society, Global Health, Population Health Sciences and Medical Informatics; Director of the Edinburgh Clinical Trials Unit; SRO of the Data-Driven Innovation Hub; Teaching Organisation Lead; Director of the Advanced Care Research Centre; Director of Professional Services and Head of Communications, Marketing and Engagement.

Our Directors of: Research, Innovation, Education and Postgraduate Research, along with the Chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee join the Usher Executive every two months to make up the wider Senior Leadership Team.

Usher Institute Executive - committees site

Usher Institute People

Committees and groups supporting the Senior Leadership Team

There are various committees and groups which report to the Usher Institute Executive. They all purposefully include membership from across the Institute and across career levels and pathways.

The Director of Research is supported by a Research Committee, Directors of Education by an Education Committee and Director of Innovation is supported by an Impact Committee.

There is an Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee which aims to promote and foster the mainstreaming of equality and diversity issues and awareness within the Institute - stimulating and building good practice in relation to ED&I across the full range of Usher activities. 

There is an Usher Institute Postgraduate Research Group, and student-led Postgraduate Research Society - both of which feed in to both the Usher Executive and the College Postgraduate Research Committee.

Postgraduate Teaching Programmes feed in to the Deanery Postgraduate Teaching Steering Group / Teaching Organisation.

An Usher Institute Information Services (IS) Committee work with the College IS team to feed in to IS strategy.

Usher Institute Health, Safety and Well-being is managed through a Mulitple Occupancy Building Group for the wider Usher Building - this oversees the implementation and operation of the Usher and University health and safety policies and arrangements.

An Usher Institute Sustainability Group offers a shared opportunity to shape our practice with sustainability in mind and drive forward sustainability initiatives.

Usher Institute Research Committee

Usher Institute Information Services Committee

Sustainability at the Usher Institute (requires login)

If you are unable to find what you are looking for among the information available at the above links, including direct contacts for each of the committees or information on how to get involved, please let us know by contacting usher.communications@ed.ac.uk

External Advisory Board

Our External Advisory Board is chaired by Professor John Ioannidis (C F Rehnborg Chair Disease Prevention. Stanford), with members Dr David Blumenthal (President of the Commonwealth Fund), Professor Martin McKee (Professor of European Public Health LSTM), Professor Debbie Lawlor (Professor of Epidemiology, University of Bristol) and Professor Lawrence Gostin (Professor of Global Health Law, Georgetown).