Dr. Melissa L. Habrat Joins Clinical Research Informatics Leadership as Deputy Director and CRISPI Co-Lead

The Clinical Research Informatics program is pleased to announce Melissa Habrat, DrPH, MPH., as Deputy Director of Clinical Research Informatics and Co-Lead of the Clinical Research Informatics Supporting Principal Investigators (CRISPI) initiative.

Dr. Habrat brings more than 20 years of experience spanning healthcare information technology, public health, clinical research operations, and research informatics. Her career has focused on building technology and data strategies that connect clinical and research environments and enable investigators to use data more effectively to advance scientific discovery.

Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Habrat served as Senior Director of Research IT and Innovation at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Research Institute, where she provided strategic leadership for research technology and supported initiatives involving artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, big data analytics, genomics, imaging, and clinical research. Prior to Seattle Children's Hospital, Dr. Habrat served as Director of Research Information Technology and at UW Medicine, where she oversaw teams supporting major clinical research information systems, including the research components of the Epic Electronic Health Record, Research Data Governance, Research Infrastructure, and clinical research platforms such as Vestigo and REDCap, among others.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Habrat held research informatics leadership roles at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), including Director of Research EHR Operations and Manager of Epic Research. At MUSC, she led efforts to integrate research workflows and systems with the electronic health record and supported research teams in navigating technology, workflow, and compliance requirements.

Throughout her career, Dr. Habrat has emphasized interoperable data architecture, data governance, and the responsible use of emerging technologies to support research and improve health outcomes. Her work has included integrating complex clinical and research data from electronic health records, genomic, biomedical, and imaging platforms.

Dr. Habrat earned her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) from the Medical College of Wisconsin, her Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Washington, and her Bachelor of Science from Limestone University. Her doctoral research examined the lived experiences of Social Determinants of Health screening among trauma patients and care teams, resulting in a novel framework identifying structural gaps in communication, follow-up, and perceived intent that can influence outcomes.

In her new role, Dr. Habrat will help advance clinical research informatics at NIH and support CRISPI’s efforts to provide investigators with the technology, infrastructure, and expertise needed to conduct innovative, data-driven research. Her experience leading enterprise research IT initiatives and developing connections between clinical and research data systems will further strengthen CRISPI’s ability to support investigators across the research lifecycle.