Megan Haymart, MD, has been named Assistant Director for Precision Health’s Data Analytics & IT Workgroup, joining Associate Director Sebastian Zoellner and Assistant Director Amy Cohn.

Haymart is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Diabetes and the Department of Internal Medicine; she is also the Nancy Wigginton Endocrinology Research Professor in Thyroid Cancer.

In this brief Q &A she discusses her research and her new role.

How does a precision-health approach inform your research in thyroid cancer and metabolism/endocrinology?

As a clinician researcher, I understand how important it is to provide tailored, personalized patient care. Precision health involves focusing on more than just medical treatment. In my research, we explore cancer care from diagnosis to treatment to survivorship with effort to understand the “whole patient.” Key to improving patient care is research that tailors the right management to the right patient with respect for patient decision-making and the unique needs of the individual.

How do you hope to add to/enhance the work of the Data Analytics & IT Workgroup?

I’m looking forward to working with this talented multidisciplinary team. As a clinician who provides care for patients and as a researcher who tries to improve clinical care through better research, I believe that Precision Health at the University of Michigan offers a rich opportunity for researchers across the institution to collaborate and promote better health through patient-centric, tailored research. The Data Analytics & IT Workgroup is involved in facilitating the development and sharing of data and encouraging broad U-M community involvement.