Julie Anne Jacko is the Chaired Professor of Health Informatics and Data Science, Interim Director of the Usher Institute, and the Founding Dean of Innovation and Engagement in the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine (CMVM) at the University of Edinburgh. She is a leader, innovator, scholar and entrepreneur, creating and applying systems engineering-derived solutions to high-impact domains such as population health, health IT, and manufacturing of devices and systems that improve human and animal health. In her role as Founding Dean, she is re-energizing and re-configuring the innovation ecosystem in the CMVM such that it leverages the College’s long history of innovation while optimizing its impact. She is establishing a strategy for systematic, structured, fully synchronized Innovation Management across the CMVM, that can serve as a model for other academic units across the university as well as a national model for excellence. Professor Jacko has a career lifetime total exceeding $30 million in externally funded research as either PI or Co-PI. Passionately committed to addressing historic health inequities for communities of colour, marginalized populations, and low-resourced communities, Dr Jacko has over 15,000 total citations. With an h-index of 54 overall, her 180+ publications have appeared in preeminent scientific journals, including Nature, Gynecologic Oncology, Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, and Retina. She is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), one of the highest honours awarded to research investigators by the U.S. government. Numerous awards since have positioned her at the forefront of her field.
Professor Jacko joined the SSAC on 1 March 2025.
