UMass Chan appoints Harvard director to help integrate AI into science research
Photo I Courtesy of UMass Chan Medical School
William Barnett, chief research computing officer at UMass Chan Medical School
In an effort to address the growing integration of artificial intelligence into basic science research, UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester has created its first chief research computing officer position, naming William Barnett to the inaugural role.
Assuming his new title, Barnett will work to align the university’s computational strategies and offerings with the needs of its faculty by working in collaboration to develop infrastructures, services, and trainings to prepare UMass Chan for the AI, machine learning, and data requirements needed in basic science research, according to a Thursday press release from UMass Chan.
Among other university professionals, Barnett will partner closely with Dr. Adrian Zai, UMass Chan chief research informatics officer and associate professor of population and quantitative health science, to achieve these goals.
Barnett comes to UMass Chan from Harvard Medical School in Boston, where he served in a similar role as senior director of research computing, supporting high performance computing, research workflows and applications, and regulated data research.
“We are excited to welcome Bill to UMass Chan,” Dr. Terence Flotte, UMass Chan dean, provost and executive deputy chancellor, said in the release. “He will provide leadership and vision in the areas of research computing and technology innovation and operations across the basic science research enterprise, including data management and computational services, as well as AI and data science. He will have a key role in advancing the basic science research mission.”
Before his time at Harvard, Barnett spearheaded initiatives to scale biomedical research at Indiana University and the Indiana University School of Medicine.
He earned his master’s degree and PhD from Boston University.
“By creating the processes and principles needed to meet the research enterprises’ computational needs in a thoughtful way, we can position the Medical School to collectively identify gaps, needs and opportunities for enhancing the computational services, strategies, investments and workforces that benefit everybody. Together, we’ll help craft a strategy for realizing a vision for research computing at UMass Chan,” Barnett said in the release.
With 1,394 full-time enrolled students, UMass Chan Medical School is the ninth largest college or university in Central Massachusetts when ranked by full-time or FTE enrollment for fall 2023, according to data compiled by the WBJ Research Department. Founded in 1962, the school has an endowment of $531 million.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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