Brian Anderson

Dr. Brian Anderson is a Harvard-trained physician-scientist specializing in medicine and artificial intelligence. Anderson earned his MD with honors from Harvard Medical School and a BA in social anthropology, cum laude, from Harvard College. He completed his training at Massachusetts General Hospital and practiced at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, where his work as a family doctor for low-income immigrants influenced his interest in technology to improve patient care. Anderson serves as a Harvard Medical School associate professor of biomedical informatics and senior advisor for ARPA-H in clinical trial innovation.

Anderson's shift from clinical practice to digital health leadership began at athenahealth, where he led the informatics and network medicine division and introduced a new approach to clinical decision support using machine learning models. He later joined MITRE as chief digital health physician, overseeing research and development in digital health with industry partners and the U.S. government. Anderson led MITRE's efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, collaborating with the White House COVID Task Force and Operation Warp Speed. He co-founded the VCI coalition, a network of more than 1,000 organizations advancing interoperable and verifiable clinical information, and directed MITRE's development of machine learning methods to analyze real-world health data.

In oncology, Anderson led MITRE's largest research and development initiative, focusing on the early development of mCODE and the application of artificial intelligence in clinical trial design. mCODE is a standardized data language and interoperability model for cancer research and treatment. His work on Advancing Clinical Trials at the Point of Care (ACT@POC) produced digital tools to support more diverse and efficient pragmatic clinical trials in cancer and other diseases, contributing to Cancer Moonshot initiatives.

Anderson is chief executive officer of the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI), a nonprofit he co-founded. CHAI develops consensus-driven guidelines and best practices for responsible artificial intelligence in health, supporting independent testing and validation of AI for safety and effectiveness. The coalition began with a small group of organizations, including major health systems and technology companies, and expanded to hundreds of members. Anderson has served on national and international health information technology committees in partnership with the Office of the National Coordinator, the National Institutes of Health, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Anderson is recognized as an expert and author in digital health and health AI, frequently speaking on digital health innovation, AI assurance, health standards development, clinical decision support systems, and interoperability. He has been quoted in CBS News, CNN, Fast Company, Forbes, STAT, and USA Today, and has appeared on programs such as WBUR's "On Point," where he addresses issues related to the safety and effectiveness of AI tools in healthcare.