Biography
Dr. Dixon serves as the director of Public Health Informatics and research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute’s Center for Biomedical Informatics in addition to his role as professor at the IU Fairbanks School of Public Health. Additionally, Dr. Dixon serves as an Investigator in Residence at the Center on Health Information and Communication, which is part of the Health Services Research & Development Service at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Dr. Dixon’s research focuses on applying informatics methods and solutions to improve population health in clinical as well as public health organizations. Leveraging large-scale clinical and administrative data from information systems, Dr. Dixon engineers solutions to measure population health, better understand the determinants of health, optimize information and work flow, enhance surveillance of disease and injury, and improve outcomes, especially among vulnerable populations. Dr. Dixon teaches informatics courses to future clinical as well as public health leaders, and he regularly mentors junior faculty and researchers in informatics, public health, and health services.
Dr. Dixon has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles in highly respected journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Pediatrics, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, Journal of Medical Internet Research, American Journal of Preventative Medicine, Public Health Reports, Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, and Journal of Biomedical Informatics. He is further the editor of three highly acclaimed books: Clinical Informatics Study Guide: Text and Review (2nd Edition), Health Information Exchange: Navigating and Managing a Network of Health Information Systems (2nd Edition), and Public Health Informatics and Information Systems (3rd Edition).
Dr. Dixon’s work on the COVID-19 pandemic has been heralded by the Governor of Indiana, AcademyHealth, and news media. Dr. Dixon was named a Research Frontiers Trailblazer by IU Indianapolis in 2018. He is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI), American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), and International Academy of Health Science Informatics (IAHSI). He is also an Elected Member of the American College of Epidemiology.
Before joining the faculty at Indiana University, Dr. Dixon managed research and development projects for Regenstrief and the Indiana Health Information Exchange. Dr. Dixon also developed health information applications and systems, including tools supporting the standard clinical vocabulary LOINC®, technology supporting the automated reporting of notifiable conditions to public health agencies, and tools for querying large clinical data repositories.
Dr. Dixon earned his Bachelor of Arts in computer science from DePauw University; his Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University; and his Doctor of Philosophy in Health Informatics from Indiana University.
Research Interests
Dr. Dixon’s research focuses on applying informatics methods and tools to improve population health in clinical as well as public health organizations. His work leverages clinical and administrative data in electronic health records to improve population outcomes, better understand threats to public health as well as care delivery processes, examine public health business processes, and make population surveillance more efficient. Dr. Dixon’s research also involves the design, implementation, and evaluation of information infrastructures as well as data quality in support of continuous use of electronic data.
Courses Taught
As a faculty member in IU’s Fairbanks School of Public Health, Dr. Dixon teaches courses on informatics as well as health information exchange to future leaders in clinical and public health.
Dr. Dixon teaches the following courses:
- Foundations of Public Health Informatics (PBHL-E635)
- Health Information Exchange for Population Health (PBHL-E645)
- Leadership Challenges in Global Health Informatics (PBHL-H763)