PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Isaac Kohane

Also known as Zak Kohane

Isaac Kohane is a biomedical informatics researcher whose work connects clinical records with medical AI. He earned a computer science PhD at Boston University in 1986 and an MD in 1987, joined Harvard Medical School in 1992, and proposed the health-record project that led to CHIP. He co-directed Harvard’s Center for Biomedical Informatics, coauthored The AI Revolution in Medicine, became NEJM AI’s inaugural editor-in-chief, and tested GPT-4 on a complex diagnostic case. As of October 2026, he chairs Harvard Medical School’s Department of Biomedical Informatics and founded the Human Values Project on values in clinical AI.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1986–1992

    Boston University and Harvard

    He earns a computer science PhD at Boston University in 1986 and an MD in medicine at Boston University School of Medicine in 1987. After postdoctoral work at Boston Children’s Hospital, he joins Harvard Medical School’s faculty in 1992.

  2. 1990s

    Clinical records and CHIP

    In 1990, he coauthors a paper proposing a two-tier cache mechanism for the Clinician’s Workstation to improve system performance. During the 1990s, he pursues a web-based electronic health record project that gives patients control over shared data and leads to the chartering of the Children’s Hospital Informatics Program (CHIP). His medical AI work includes automated ventilator control, pediatric growth monitoring, domestic abuse detection and multimodal autism diagnosis.

  3. 2005–2015

    Countway and informatics center

    From 2005 to 2015, he directs Countway Library and co-directs the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School.

  4. 2020

    Morris F. Collen Award

    In 2020, he is named the recipient of the Morris F. Collen Award of Excellence.

  5. 2023

    NEJM AI and a GPT-4 book

    In March 2023, he is named the inaugural editor-in-chief of NEJM AI, a new journal for evidence on medical AI. In April 2023, he coauthors The AI Revolution in Medicine: GPT-4 and Beyond with Peter Lee and Carey Goldberg.

  6. March 2025

    GPT-4 on a complex case

    In March 2025, he describes testing GPT-4 on a complex case involving a child born with ambiguous genitalia and asking it about genetic causes, biochemical pathways and workup steps.

  7. As of October 2026

    The Human Values Project

    As of October 2026, he is chair of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Biomedical Informatics and the Marion V. Nelson Professor of Biomedical Informatics. He founds the Human Values Project, an international research initiative studying values embedded in clinical AI and developing tools to make those values visible.

Career

  1. NowHarvard UniversityChair, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Marion V. Nelson Professor of Biomedical Informatics
  2. Boston Children's HospitalPostdoctoral researcher

Education

  1. 1987Boston UniversityMD in Medicine
  2. 1986Boston UniversityPhD in Computer Science

From the biography.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Isaac S. Kohane | Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology hst.mit.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  2. Isaac Kohane | Department of Biomedical Informatics dbmi.hms.harvard.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  3. A Two-Tiered Database Cache Mechanism for a Clinician’s Workstation - PMC pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Checked 27 October 2026.
  4. CHIP looks back at 25 years of bioinformatics - Boston Children’s Answers answers.childrenshospital.org. Checked 27 October 2026.
  5. Isaac Kohane - Kempner Institute kempnerinstitute.harvard.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  6. Awards and Honors from October 2020 - Harvard Brain Science Initiative brain.harvard.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  7. HMS Biomedical Informatics Pioneer Named Editor-in-Chief of New AI Journal | Department of Biomedical Informatics dbmi.hms.harvard.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  8. The AI Revolution in Medicine: GPT-4 and Beyond - Pearson pearson.com. Checked 27 October 2026.
  9. How AI is transforming medicine — Harvard Gazette news.harvard.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  10. ‘The bulk of the benefit and the threat is actually humans’ — Harvard Gazette news.harvard.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.