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Robert Brown, PhD��has a famous saying among his colleagues in biomedical informatics at WMed��– “I got this.”

Whether it was converting the medical school’s predecessor, Michigan State University/Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies, from paper medical records to electronic health records, or establishing the medical school’s Program in Biomedical Informatics, the phrase is something Dr. Brown’s colleagues have heard that often put them at ease.

Jon Walsh, �²���, MPH, worked with Dr. Brown to create the Program in Biomedical Informatics. The two put together an early curriculum for first- and second-year medical students and created a two-year master’s program in Clinical Informatics.��

“Whenever there was a deadline approaching that was getting close and stressful, Bob would always say ‘I got this Jon,’ and he would help do anything and everything to help us meet those deadlines,” Dr. Walsh said.

Now, Dr. Brown, 70, is retiring from full-time teaching on June 30 after working for more than 25 years in healthcare as a clinician, researcher, consultant and administrator. He will stay on as a community faculty member at the medical school.

Dr. Brown said he is looking forward to spending time with his wife, Ann, his three grown children and his first grandchild. He and Ann plan to take an extended road trip around the United States, and plan to visit his sister in Switzerland.

Dr. Brown obtained his master’s degree and doctorate in experimental psychology from Western Michigan University. He worked in the Information Technology department at Borgess Medical Center, where he also served as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy officer, until 2005 when he joined MSU/KCMS. There, he led the effort to convert the organization’s paper charts to electronic medical records.

Though Dr. Brown started at MSU/KCMS in 2005, that wasn’t his first experience with what would later become the medical school. His daughter, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 15 years old. She was treated by a pediatric oncologist and other specialists at MSU/KCMS.

“I was really pleased when I got an offer to work for KCMS because they did so much for my daughter, for my family and me,” Dr. Brown said. “It was a pleasure to work with so many physicians who helped treat my daughter when she was so seriously ill.”

As a leader at MSU/KCMS, Brown was a supportive manager and mentor, but most of all, a friend, said Renee Brady, Health Information Manager for the medical school.��

“He guided those of us that reported to him by teaching us, encouraging us to continue to learn and to strive to do our personal best,” Brady said. “He has been a passionate advocate for the advancement of electronic health records and has moved WMed forward as electronic records became more innovative.”

Dr. Brown has served as co-chair of the business operations committee of the Michigan Health Information Network implementation project and has served on the Board of Advisors of the Business Information Systems Department of the Hayworth College of Business at Western Michigan University and at WMU’s Center for Health Information Technology Advancement.

When the medical school was established in 2011, he became a member of the team charged with merging the two entities. Hal B. Jenson, �²���, MBA, the medical school’s founding dean, asked Dr. Brown to start a program in biomedical informatics for the medical school, which morphed into WMed’s biomedical informatics department.

Philip Kroth, �²���, MSc, joined the medical school in January to head the new biomedical informatics department, and has hit the ground running, Dr. Brown said. Shamsi Berry, PhD, joined Biomedical Informatics faculty in April.

“We have two nationally known scholars now in addition to Dr. Walsh,” Dr. Brown said. “We’ve got a really strong biomedical informatics department now at the medical school. It’s shaping up to be one of the best in the country. That’s my legacy – recruiting some really smart people to realize Hal’s dream and my dream.”

Dr. Brown is a living legend in the Kalamazoo community when it comes to biomedical informatics, Dr. Kroth said.��

“He’s really dedicated to the field of informatics in that he saw the problems with the healthcare system that he experienced with his daughter and he dedicated his career to improving it,” Dr. Kroth said. “Few people that are in the healthcare system really step up and do that. It was really impressive to me. He learned on the job and did a very impressive job with that, up to and including starting a master’s degree at WMed.”

Dr. Brown and Dr. Walsh laid a good foundation as co-chairs the program for biomedical informatics before recruiting Dr. Kroth to start the department, Dr. Kroth said.

“I think he created a great foundation for a new department,” Dr. Kroth said. “He set the standard for collaboration and vision for informatics in the community. He has big shoes to fill as far as dedication to the field. He has a very positive can-do attitude that I try to emulate.”

In the more than 20 years knowing Dr. Brown, he always has been fully dedicated to any task given to him with an unending supply of energy and a commitment to quality, Dr. Walsh said.��

“It was easy to want to work with him on this important area of medical education as his enthusiasm was contagious and his commitment to improve healthcare for all is a shared goal between us,” Dr. Walsh said.��

Over the years and in their travels to informatics conferences, Drs. Walsh and Brown made it a point to try new foods and new restaurants, and both developed a taste for oysters, Dr. Walsh said.��

“Bob leaves full-time teaching and healthcare service after more than 20 years in many capacities, but all centered around improving healthcare for all,” Dr. Walsh said. “I’m looking forward to his next phase as community faculty and will happily look forward to the next invitation to the oyster bar.”

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