Kensaku (Ken) Kawamoto, MD, PhD, MHS, has been appointed the inaugural Chief Health AI Transformation Officer for University of Utah Health, effective immediately.
Reporting to Jim Hotaling, MD, MS, chief innovation officer for U of U Health, Kawamoto leads efforts to advance artificial intelligence (AI) across the health system, driving innovation that enhances patient care, operational performance, research, and education. He will work in close partnership with clinical, operational, and academic leaders to develop and implement AI-enabled solutions that deliver measurable impact. Kawamoto also oversees University of Utah Health’s Innovation Lab, launched in January to accelerate the development and deployment of cutting-edge technologies across the system.
“The University of Utah is such a special place, with a culture of collaboration and innovation that is truly unique,” Kawamoto said. “I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to work with colleagues across our institution to harness the promise of AI and deliver transformative impact. I look forward to turning our shared vision for the future into reality.”
Kawamoto joined the faculty at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah in 2011. He serves as the Dr. Helmuth F. Orthner Endowed Professor and vice chair of clinical AI and informatics in the Department of Biomedical Informatics. He also serves as co-senior director of the Digital Health Initiative and founding director of the ReImagine EHR Initiative, a multi-stakeholder effort to improve health and health care through interoperable electronic health record innovations. Since 2013, he has served as associate chief medical information officer for University of Utah Health. He is also on the faculty engagement committee for the Responsible AI Initiative (RAI).
A nationally recognized leader in biomedical informatics and clinical AI, Kawamoto is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics and the American Medical Informatics Association. He was named a Modern Healthcare Top 25 Innovator in 2019 and a University of Utah Presidential Societal Impact Scholar in 2026. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemical sciences from Harvard University and his MD/PhD in biomedical engineering and MHS in clinical research from Duke University.
Kawamoto has held significant national leadership roles in health information technology, including serving two terms on the U.S. Health IT Advisory Committee (HITAC), where he helped guide federal policy on health IT standards and interoperability. He also co-chaired the federal Interoperability Standards Priorities Task Force. Internationally, he co-chairs the Clinical Decision Support Work Group for Health Level Seven International (HL7) and is a past HL7 board member. He also founded and directs OpenCDS, a multi-institutional initiative supporting scalable, standards-based clinical decision support used by tens of thousands of health care organizations nationwide.
Kawamoto’s research focuses on improving health and health care through advanced clinical decision support and interoperable data systems. He is a member of Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program and led or contributed to numerous federally funded research initiatives, including projects supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and 10 book chapters.
“Kawamoto is a nationally recognized leader at the forefront of clinical AI and digital health innovation,” said Bob S. Carter, MD, PhD, executive vice president for health sciences and CEO of University of Utah Health. “His ability to bring together clinical insight, research excellence, and technical expertise will be critical as we continue to build a fully integrated academic health system. This new role reflects our commitment to responsibly harnessing AI to improve care, advance discovery, and better serve the communities we are privileged to care for.”