A L U M N I P R O F I L E Adam B. Landman, MD ’04: Advancing Patient Care through Health Information Technology A A s a child, Adam Landman, MD ’04, played for hours with his toy fire trucks, dreaming of grow- ing up to be a firefighter. Fast-forward to May 2016, when Dr. Landman was named chief information officer of Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston. An emergency physician, he also serves as assistant professor of emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School. The story of his career journey, from an imaginative young would-be fire chief to a national leader in clinical and biomedical informatics, is one he loves to describe. Merging Interests in Technology and Patient Care fter graduation from Cornell University, Dr. Landman worked for Andersen Consulting, now Accenture, specializing in large-system integration. In his off-hours, he was a volunteer emergency medical technician and firefighter, and he seriously considered becoming a full-time first responder. While weighing that decision, he earned two master’s degrees at Carnegie Mellon University, one in K A T E O ’ N E I L L B Y health care policy and one in information systems. His discovery of the growing field of clinical informatics ignited both an interest in health care technology and a desire to go to medical school. Dr. Landman’s visit to Robert Wood Johnson Medical School was conclusive. In his admissions interview, he found kindred spirits in David Seiden, PhD, then associate dean for admissions, and Carol Terregino, MD ’86, then assistant dean for admissions; both shared his vision for advancing health care by bringing together informatics and medicine. The late Robert Trelstad, MD, then professor and chair, Department of Pathology, was another important mentor. A small-group leader in pathophysiology, Dr. Trelstad stayed in touch throughout Dr. Landman’s clinical years and beyond. “He always gave me sage advice,” says Dr. Landman, “and, although our clinical interests were very different, he enthusiastically supported my decision to become an emergency physician.” Dr. Landman’s residency at UCLA Medical Center confirmed that emergency medicine would be a good fit. The excitement of emergency department work fulfilled his expectation of providing care in a fast-paced, collegial environment, working alongside specialists from different fields, and caring for all kinds of patients, regardless of their ability to pay. Subsequently, as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar, he completed a two-year fellowship in health services research at Yale University School of Medicine. It was his first full opportunity to merge his dual 40 Robert Wood Johnson I MEDICINE