Peter J. Embi, MD, will take the reins as president and CEO of the Regenstrief Institute in December, the Institute officials announced on Tuesday.

Embi, an internationally recognized expert in biomedical informatics, will leave his post as interim chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics and associate dean for research informatics at Ohio State University’s College of Medicine.

Embi is a practicing physician and a researcher, known for his expertise in clinical and research informatics. He succeeds former Regenstrief President and CEO William Tierney, MD, who now serves as chair of population health for the Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin.

[See also: Regenstrief CEO begins new chapter .]

Before joining Ohio State in 2010, Embi was the founding director of the Center for Health Informatics at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center. In addition to his interim chair and associate dean roles, Embi serves in a number of roles at Ohio State. He's director of the division of clinical and translational informatics in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, tenured associate professor of biomedical informatics, internal medicine and public health and chief research information officer at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, among other roles.

“This is a critical time for healthcare and biomedical research, and the work our investigators do, in collaboration with our healthcare partners, is essential to transforming the way we practice,” Embi said. “I am very enthusiastic about the impacts we can have on the health of our patients and communities.”

Regenstrief is a global leader in biomedical informatics, health services and aging in innovations and research to improve health and healthcare. It's a supporting organization of the Indiana University School of Medicine and has several regional partners, including IU Health and Eskenazi Health.

Founded in 1969, the Regenstrief Institute and its researchers have been responsible for major developments and studies demonstrating the use of electronic health records and related information technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare.

In addition to his leadership position at Regenstrief, Embi will hold the positions of associate dean for informatics and health services research and professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine, associate director for informatics at the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and vice president for learning health systems at Indiana University Health. He will also be named the Sam Regenstrief Professor of Informatics and Health Services.