Biography
Jessica S. Ancker, MPH, PhD, is an assistant professor in the departments of pediatrics and public health at Weill Cornell Medical College. She uses quantitative and qualitative methods to study how health information technology affects decisions among patients and physicians. As a member of the Center for Healthcare Informatics and Policy (CHiP) and HITEC (the Health Information Technology Evaluation Collaborative), she has studied the effects of technology-supported care coordination on hospital readmission rates, the usability of consumer technology, and consumer engagement with patient portals. A recent series of studies led to the development of novel web-based displays to allow patients to develop an intuitive understanding of risks associated with health decisions. Additional areas of research include numeracy among patients and professionals, risk communication, and disparities in technology adoption.
As a member of HITEC (the Health Information Technology Evaluation Collaborative), she is involved in studies of interoperable health information technology in New York State. Dr. Ancker is the program director of the Health Information Technology Certificate program at CHIP (http://weill.cornell.edu/chip/education/).
She earned her PhD from the department of biomedical informatics at Columbia University with the support of a National Library of Medicine fellowship. Her master's degree is from the department of biostatistics at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health. Her undergraduate degree in history and science is from Harvard University.
A former Associated Press journalist, Dr. Ancker returned to school to earn her MPH from the department of biostatistics at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. She subsequently worked as a statistician and writer for an NIH-funded clinical trials consortium and adjunct professor of biostatistics at Columbia, where she was proud to have earned such student comments as, "She really made an otherwise dull sorry subject very interesting!"
Dr. Ancker has also been active in the scientific publishing community, serving on the board of the Council of Science Editors and chairing two conferences on scientific publication ethics. She also continues to guest lecture on statistical literacy issues for journalists.
