The Changing Nature of Evidence
In this recorded plenary session at the 2021 Annual Research Meeting, panelists discuss the ways in which, through evidence, data, experience and artificial intelligence, the very nature of evidence is changing.
Amy P. Abernethy, MD PhD is a hematologist/oncologist and palliative medicine physician, and an internationally recognized clinical data expert and clinical researcher. With over 500 publications, Dr. Abernethy is an expert in real-world data & evidence, clinical trials, patient reported outcomes, clinical informatics and patient-centered care. Most recently, Dr. Abernethy was Principal Deputy Commissioner and Acting Chief Information Officer of the US Food & Drug Administration, serving from February 2019 to April 2021. Dr. Abernethy initiated multiple critical efforts during her tenure including FDA’s technology and data modernization action plans and FDA’s efforts to leverage real-world data & evidence to address critical questions during the pandemic.
Dr. Abernethy was Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer at Flatiron Health from July 2014 to January 2019. Before joining Flatiron, Dr. Abernethy was Professor of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, and directed the Center for Learning Health Care in the Duke Clinical Research Institute and Duke Cancer Care Research Program in the Duke Cancer Institute. For more than 15 years, she pioneered the development of technology platforms to spur novel advancements in cancer care, including the development of systems by which linked clinical data can support tracking cancer care, drug development, personalized medicine and scientific discovery. She also previously served as an appointee to the National Academy of Medicine’s (formerly the Institute of Medicine) National Cancer Policy Forum, on the Board of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, and President of the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine.
Dr. Abernethy went to the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate, and then medical school at Duke, where she also did her Internal Medicine residency, a year as Chief Resident, and her hematology/oncology fellowship. She has her PhD from Flinders University in Australia, focused on evidence-based medicine.