Today, we are excited to announce the newest addition to our team: Dr. Ming He, COTA’s Senior Medical Director.
Since the beginning of her medical studies, Dr. He always wanted to become an oncologist. She began her education at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School before completing her Internal Medicine Residency at Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, followed by a Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine.
Following her fellowship, Dr. He went into private practice and for the last two years has worked at IBM Watson for Oncology Client Experience Team as Clinical Lead. She is on staff at her alma mater – UT Southwestern Medical School – as volunteer faculty, which allows her to give back to her school and community.
At COTA, Dr. He will work across the organization, applying her clinical oncology expertise to support various teams including abstraction operations, engineering, product, and analytics. Similarly, she will aid in the ongoing development of COTA’s clinical, genomic, and claims datasets.
Dr. He’s impressive background, her commitment to supporting COTA’s mission, and her passion for oncology care are just a few reasons we are excited to have her on the team. Keep reading to learn more…
Why are you excited to join COTA?
As a physician, I know firsthand the challenge of trying to balance the needs of my patients with all of the administrative demands placed on doctors. Throughout my career, I’ve been searching for a company that utilizes data and technology to support doctors in practice so they can provide the best possible care for their patients.
I believe the work we are doing at COTA is actively improving oncology care for the benefit of patients and physicians, as well as furthering research and drug development. COTA truly checked off all of my boxes!
What are you most looking forward to in this new position?
I am most looking forward to contributing to the abstraction process at COTA. Similarly, I am excited to work on a provider product that can be used by practice managers to give them insight into what other doctors are doing, not only in their own practice, but across institutions.
Often as physicians, we rely on guidelines when it comes to patient care, but we have very little data to show us how other doctors are treating similar patients in the real-world. I believe tools that can help answer questions about specific patient cohorts and their associated treatments and outcomes are important and I am eager to be part of an organization that is helping to make this information more widely available.
Why oncology and cancer care?
Since the age of 17, I wanted to be an oncologist. I think what drove me to have this passion and desire to work in the industry is seeing the lives of people affected by cancer both directly and indirectly. About 20 years ago, a close friend was diagnosed with leukemia – and despite multiple rounds of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant, he passed away from the disease. He remains an inspiration for me both personally and professionally to this day.
A major focus of COTA’s work is abstracting for malignancies in leukemia and lymphoma to advance research and drug development which will have a significant impact in this disease area.
As we continue into 2020, what do you hope to see COTA achieve this year?
For 2020 and beyond, I hope to see COTA continue on its path of success, partnering with providers and life science companies to support drug development and ultimately improve patient outcomes.
I believe the industry as a whole is excited and interested in real-world data and evidence and I am looking forward to doing my part to advance its use through my connections and industry collaborations.
