Edward H. Shortliffe

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Edward Hance Shortliffe
Born1947 (age 78–79)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Other nameTed
EducationHarvard University
Stanford University
Known forMYCIN, Biomedical informatics
Websitewww.shortliffe.net

Edward ("Ted") Hance Shortliffe (born 1947) is a Canadian-born American biomedical informatician,[1] physician, and computer scientist. Shortliffe is a pioneer in the use of artificial intelligence in medicine. He was the principal developer of the clinical expert system MYCIN, one of the first rule-based artificial intelligence expert systems, which obtained clinical data interactively from a physician user and was used to diagnose and recommend treatment for severe infections. [2] His research has focused on artificial intelligence in medicine, clinical decision support systems, biomedical knowledge representation, health information technology, and medical informatics education.[3]

He is also regarded as a founder of the field of biomedical informatics, and in 2006 received one of its highest honors, the Morris F. Collen Award of Excellence given by the American College of Medical Informatics.[1]

In July 2009, Shortliffe assumed a position as president and chief executive officer of the American Medical Informatics Association, an organization that he helped to form between 1988 and 1990 when he was President of the Symposium on Computer Applications in Medical Care.[4]

Early life and education

Shortliffe was born in 1947 and spent part of his childhood in Edmonton, Alberta, before moving with his family to Connecticut. His father was a physician and hospital administrator, while his mother was an English teacher.[5]

He attended Loomis School (now Loomis Chaffee School) in Connecticut and later an exchange student year at Gresham's School in the United Kingdom.[6] As an undergraduate student at Harvard College, he worked in the laboratory of G. Octo Barnett at Massachusetts General Hospital, serving as a research assistant to Robert A. Greenes, a physician and Harvard PhD candidate in applied mathematics (computer science) who went on to become a senior leader in the biomedical informatics field. This experience introduced him to the emerging use of computers in healthcare and helped shape his decision to pursue a career combining medicine and computing.[7]

Shortliffe graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1970 with an A.B. in applied mathematics (computer science). He subsequently attended Stanford University, earning a Ph.D. in Medical Information Sciences in 1975 and an M.D. in 1976.[8]

Career

Standford University

After completing residency training in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford Hospital between 1976 and 1979, Shortliffe joined the Stanford University faculty in General Internal Medicine.[9]

At Stanford, he went on to succeed Joshua Lederberg and Edward Feigenbaum as the third Director of the Stanford University Medical Experimental Computer Resource (SUMEX) and later the Center for Advanced Medical Informatics at Stanford (CAMIS).[10]

Shortliffe also practiced medicine at Stanford and served as chief of general internal medicine and associate chair of medicine for primary care.[9] He was principal investigator of the InterMed Collaboratory, which worked on methods for representing clinical guidelines in computable forms and explored the use of the Internet for scientific research collaboration at a distance.[11]

In 1980, he established one of the earliest formal graduate training programs in biomedical informatics at Stanford University. The program became influential in training researchers, physicians, and scientists who later assumed leadership positions throughout the informatics community.[12]

Columbia University

In 2000, Shortliffe joined Columbia University as chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics. He also served as deputy vice president of Columbia University Medical Center, senior associate dean for strategic information resources, professor of medicine, professor of computer science, and director of medical informatics services for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.[2]

His tenure at Columbia coincided with a period of growing adoption of electronic health records and clinical information systems, areas in which he remained an active researcher, educator, and policy contributor.[13]

University of Arizona and Arizona State University

In March 2007, Shortliffe became the founding dean of the Phoenix campus of the University of Arizona College of Medicine, which was created as a collaborative effort between the University of Arizona and Arizona State University (ASU). At ASU he was also appointed as a Professor of Biomedical Informatics. [14]

American Medical Informatics Association

In July 2009, Shortliffe became president and chief executive officer of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA).[15]

His appointment reflected a long-standing association with organizations that helped shape the biomedical informatics profession in North America. During his tenure, AMIA continued efforts to promote research, education, policy development, and professional standards in health informatics.[16]

Research and contributions

Shortliffe's research has focused on artificial intelligence in medicine, decision support systems, biomedical knowledge representation, health information systems, and medical education.[2]

Beyond artificial intelligence, Shortliffe contributed to the development of biomedical informatics as an academic field through research programs, educational initiatives, professional leadership, and editorial activities. He served as founding Editor-in-Chief of a leading biomedical informatics scientific journal (Journal of Biomedical Informatics) from 2001 to 2020.[17]

Professional service

He was elected (1987) to the Institute of Medicine, now known as the National Academy of Medicine. Election to the Institute of Medicine is considered one of the highest professional honors in American healthcare and biomedical science. He is also an elected Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (1990).[18]

Publications

Shortliffe is the author or co-author of more than 350 scientific publications and several books.[16]

Selected books

Honors

  • Morris F. Collen Award for Distinguished Contributions to Medical Informatics, American Medical Informatics Association, November 2006[19]
  • Appointed Rolf H. Scholdager Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University, June 2005.
  • National Associate, National Academies, Washington, DC, December 2004.
  • Mastership, American College of Physicians, November 2002
  • Young Investigator Award, Western Society for Clinical Investigation, February 1987.
  • Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Faculty Scholar in General Internal Medicine, July 1983—June 1988.
  • Research Career Development Award, National Library of Medicine, July 1979—June 1984.
  • Grace Murray Hopper Award (Distinguished computer scientist under age 30), Association for Computing Machinery, October 1976

References

  1. Greenes, R. A.; Buchanan, B. G.; Ellison, D. (2007). "Presentation of the 2006 Morris F. Collen Award to Edward H. (Ted) Shortliffe". Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 14 (3): 376–85. doi:10.1197/jamia.M2374. PMC 2244891. PMID 17557382.
  2. 1. Rule-Based Expert Systems: The MYCIN Experiments of the Stanford Heuristic Programming Project -(edited by Bruce G. Buchanan and Edward H. Shortliffe; ebook version http://www.aaaipress.org/Classic/Buchanan/buchanan.html )
  3. "Edward Shortliffe, MD, PhD, MACP, FACMI, FIAHSI | AMIA - American Medical Informatics Association". amia.org. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  4. "Professor to lead national biomedical organization". ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact. 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
  5. "Edward Shortliffe Homepage". impact.dbmi.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  6. "Edward Shortliffe Homepage". impact.dbmi.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  7. "Shortliffe, Edward". About us. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  8. National Research Council (US) Committee on Future Information Architectures, Processes (2010), "Biosketches of Committee Members and Staff", Preliminary Observations on Information Technology Needs and Priorities at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: An Interim Report, National Academies Press (US), retrieved 2026-06-22
  9. "Faculty Page - Columbia DBMI". 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  10. "Center for Advanced Medical Informatics at Stanford (CAMIS) (1990-1998) – TC Rindfleisch". Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  11. Edward H, Shortliffe. "A study of collaboration among medical informatics research laboratories". Science Direct.
  12. admin (2021-09-02). "IMIA announces Dr. Edward H. Shortliffe recipient of the 2021 IMIA François Grémy Award of Excellence". IMIA. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  13. "Shortliffe". HRBA. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  14. "Faculty excellence | Arizona State University". www.asu.edu. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  15. "Shortliffe takes reins of AMIA as president, CEO". www.modernhealthcare.com. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  16. "Shortliffe, Edward, M.D." www.modernhealthcare.com. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  17. Edward H, Shortliffe (2014). "Biomedical Informatics". Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine. doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-4474-8.
  18. "National Academy of Medicine Honors Four Members for Outstanding Service - NAM". nam.edu. 2023-10-08. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
  19. "Awards - Past Winners | AMIA". Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)