NQF Names Dr. Helen Burstin Chief Scientific Officer 

Washington, DC—The National Quality Forum (NQF) today announced the appointment of Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, FACP to Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Burstin has served as the Senior Vice President for Performance Measurement since joining NQF in 2007. In her new role, she will provide strategic guidance to all NQF work from the perspective of current and emerging measurement science.

“This new role will allow Dr. Burstin to utilize both her vast experience in quality measurement and the scientific processes that establish effective quality measurement to make a real impact on improving health and health care,” said Dr. Christine Cassel, NQF President and CEO. “NQF and our more than 400 member organizations benefit greatly from having this type of expertise in all of the work that we do.”

Prior to joining NQF, Dr. Burstin was the Director of the Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). In her AHRQ role, she oversaw the development of the Health Information Technology (IT) portfolio, which invested over $166 million on research at the intersection of health IT and quality of care. Her center also supported the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and research on primary care and prevention. Prior to joining AHRQ in 2000, Dr. Burstin was an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Quality Measurement at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Burstin is a graduate of the State University of New York at Upstate College of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health. She completed a residency in primary care internal medicine at Boston City Hospital. After residency, she completed fellowship training in General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Burstin is the author of over 80 articles and book chapters on quality, patient safety, and disparities. She is the Chair of the Quality Measures Workgroup of the Health IT Policy Committee. She is a Professorial Lecturer in the Department of Health Policy at George Washington University School of Public Health. Dr. Burstin is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at George Washington University where she serves as a preceptor in internal medicine.