Jyotishman Pathak, a leading figure in biomedical informatics and population health sciences, has been appointed as the inaugural dean of Arizona State University’s (ASU) new School of Technology for Public Health, effective July 1, 2025.
Jyotishman Pathak
This groundbreaking school, a first of its kind in the nation, aims to leverage technology to tackle pressing public health challenges. As dean, Pathak will play a vital role in shaping this emerging field and driving its impact locally, nationally, and globally.
The School of Technology for Public Health, an integral part of ASU Health, will focus on integrating digital technology, data-driven decision-making, and a strong emphasis on local impact within the field. The school will also contribute to creating a technologically skilled workforce designed to advance public health practices.
The school is expected to welcome its first cohorts of students in the Master of Public Health and Master of Public Health Technology programs in the fall of 2025.
The school’s design was developed in collaboration with industry leaders who assessed the current needs in public health. The initiative’s co-chairs were Dr. Susan Blumenthal, a retired rear admiral and former U.S. assistant surgeon general, and Sir Malcolm Grant, chancellor of the University of York and founding chairman of England’s National Health Service.
“Dr. Pathak is an ideal leader for our new School of Technology for Public Health. He has been leading an extremely productive and well-funded program of research utilizing medical informatics and digital health technologies, including AI, to design and deploy solutions to a range of critical health problems,” stated ASU Executive Vice President and University Provost Nancy Gonzales. “He has the track record we were seeking to blend technology and public health in innovative ways that will be core to the identity of the new school.”
Gonzales added that Pathak is also recognized as a leading researcher, educator, and innovator in informatics and behavioral health and is a generous mentor to both faculty and students. “We are very excited that he will be joining ASU as a new dean and a member of the ASU Health leadership team,” she said.
Prior to his appointment at ASU, Pathak held the positions of Frances & John L. Loeb Professor of Medical Informatics, Professor of Health Care Policy and Research in Psychiatry, Chief of the Division of Health Informatics, and Vice Chair for Entrepreneurship in the Department of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. His research involves analyzing electronic health records, insurance claims, and social determinants of health data to study mental health service utilization and treatment outcomes related to depression, substance use, and suicide. This research has been supported by numerous organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the National Science Foundation, and the American Heart Association.
Pathak is also the co-founder of Iris OB Health Inc., a mental health startup focused on developing digital health solutions for managing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
Pathak was drawn to the new role by the opportunity to merge his expertise in medicine, informatics, and population health sciences. “I am truly honored and humbled to serve as the inaugural dean of ASU’s School of Technology for Public Health,” Pathak said. “As a leading public research university, ASU has fostered a culture of innovation, transformation and interdisciplinary collaboration — key to tackling pressing public health challenges such as maternal and child health, mental and environmental health, infectious diseases and public health communication, among others. I am excited to partner with faculty, students, staff and communities across Phoenix and Arizona to reimagine and advance public health infrastructure, education and scholarship for the 21st century.”
A prolific researcher, Pathak has authored over 275 peer-reviewed publications, several book chapters, and invited editorials. He has also published a book on genomic and clinical data sharing. In 2023, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services appointed him to the National Advisory Mental Health Council, where he advises the director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Pathak’s accolades include awards from the American Medical Informatics Association, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Heart Association, IBM Research, and Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar for excellence in research, teaching, and mentorship. Furthermore, he serves as an editor for the American Psychiatric Association’s Psychiatric News and is an elected fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics.
Pathak received a PhD in computer science from Iowa State University in 2007. He subsequently completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In 2015, he joined Cornell University and currently resides in New York with his wife, Divya, and their two children, Anya and Aditya.
“We are delighted that Dr. Pathak will be joining ASU Health as the founding dean of the first School of Technology for Public Health in the U.S.,” said Sherine Gabriel, executive vice president of ASU Health. “Jyoti’s academic, quantitative and administrative talents, along with his exceptional track record as a scholar, fundraiser and leader, make him an ideal choice. We look forward to working with him to advance the vision of the school, of ASU Health and of ASU.”
