Dr. David Atkins was appointed Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research & Development Service (HSR&D) in 2013. In the role of HSR&D Director, he oversees the more than $90 million intramural health services research program, with more than 600 funded investigators and 245 ongoing research projects aimed at improving the health and care of Veterans.
Prior to this, Dr. Atkins served as Director of VA/HSR&D's Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) that focuses on implementation of evidence‐based innovations to improve healthcare for Veterans. Before becoming Director of QUERI, Dr. Atkins spent more than a decade at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). In his last role at AHRQ, he was the Chief Medical Officer at the Center for Outcomes and Evidence, where he oversaw the scientific activities of AHRQ's Effective Healthcare Program and research on improving care of chronic disease. In previous positions at AHRQ he was the Coordinator for Clinical Preventive Services at AHRQ's Center for Practice Technology Assessment. In that role, he directed an array of programs and research activities relating to clinical preventive services and health promotion, including overseeing the work of the U.S. Preventive Services task Force. Dr. Atkins is received his M.D. from Yale University and is Board certified in Internal Medicine, Dr. Atkins also has a Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Washington where he complete a NRSA Fellowship in Primary Medicine. Prior to joining AHRQ, he split his time between the two by conducting epidemiologic research on cardiovascular disease prevention and providing primary care in the ambulatory setting.