Global Leadership in Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Care: “Using data to improve outcomes – an interview with Jennifer S. Li, MD, MHS”

AbstractDr. Jennifer Li is the focus of our second in a planned series of interviews in Cardiology in the Young entitled, “Global Leadership in Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Care”. Dr. Li was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana where she completed her secondary education. She then attended Stanford University, majoring in Chemistry and English and graduating with distinction in 1983. Dr. Li then attended Duke University School of Medicine, graduating in 1987. She then completed her internship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 1987–1989, returning to Duke University Medical Center to complete both her residency in general paediatrics in 1989–1990 followed by her fellowship in paediatric cardiology in 1990–1993. She would later complete her Master’s Degree in Health Sciences at Duke University in 2005.Dr. Li has spent her entire career as a paediatric cardiologist at Duke University Medical Center, where she was appointed a Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Medicine in 2008 and has held the position as Beverly C. Morgan Endowed Professor of Pediatrics since 2012. She has served as the Chief of Paediatric Cardiology at Duke University Medical Center since 2006. She also was the Director of Paediatric Research at Duke Clinical Research Institute from 2001-2015. Dr. Li has played an instrumental role in evaluating the safety and efficacy of drugs in children, as well as in analysing and linking large multicentric databases to evaluate the outcomes, quality, and cost of paediatric and congenital cardiac care. Dr. Li has received funding from the National Institute of Health of the United States of America, as well as from industry and foundation grants. This article presents our interview with Dr. Li, an interview that covers her experience collaborating with governmental organizations and industry in the pursuit of common interests to design clinical drug trials, link and analyse large, multicentric databases, and improve paediatric health care.