Indian American named inaugural executive director of Rice-Houston Methodist Digital Health Institute

<p>Houston, Jun 14 (PTI): Rice University and Houston Methodist have named Indian American Pothik Chatterjee as the inaugural executive director of their newly-launched Digital Health Institute, a joint initiative aimed at advancing technology-driven solutions in healthcare.</p><p>Chatterjee, 41, who assumed the role on May 1, will lead the institute’s strategy, operations, partnerships and innovation programmes. The announcement was made by the two institutions earlier this week.</p><p>The Rice-Houston Methodist Digital Health Institute, launched in December 2024, brings together Rice’s strengths in engineering and artificial intelligence with Houston Methodist’s clinical expertise. The initiative seeks to accelerate the development and implementation of digital tools — such as AI-enabled diagnostics, telehealth platforms, wearable technologies and predictive analytics — to improve patient care and health equity.</p><p>”We are excited to welcome Pothik as the executive director,” said Ashutosh Sabharwal, chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice and co-director of the institute. “His experience aligns with our vision of building a transformative digital health ecosystem grounded in innovation and equity.” Chatterjee brings more than 15 years of leadership experience in digital health, biotechnology and health-equity innovation. He previously held senior roles at LifeBridge Health and the Greater Baltimore Committee, where he led collaborations with Apple, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services to introduce advanced digital health solutions in hospitals and underserved communities.</p><p>”This is an opportunity to build one of the world’s leading digital-health-innovation hubs,” Chatterjee said in a statement issued by Rice University. “I look forward to working at the intersection of technology, clinical excellence and social impact.” As the executive director, Chatterjee will report to Sabharwal and Dr Khurram Nasir, Division Chief of Cardiovascular Prevention and Wellness at Houston Methodist, who also serves as the co-director of the institute.</p><p>According to Rice officials, the institute’s initial focus areas include early disease detection, personalised treatment planning, remote monitoring and scalable digital care delivery models. The goal is to translate cutting-edge research into real-world clinical applications.</p><p>Chatterjee is originally from Kolkata. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in international studies from Johns Hopkins University.</p><p>The new institute builds upon previous collaborations between Rice and Houston Methodist, including the Centre for Neural Systems Restoration and the Centre for Human Performance. PTI COR SHK RC</p><p><i>(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)</i></p>