PCORI's Rachael Fleurence to Serve as First Executive Director of New Initiative's Coordinating Center

WASHINGTON, DC — Rachael Fleurence, PhD, PCORI’s Program Director for Research Infrastructure, has accepted an invitation to serve as the first Executive Director for the new National Evaluation System for Health Technology (NEST) Coordinating Center.

NEST is a program run by the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC), a public-private partnership between the Food and Drug Administration and the medical device industry. It is an effort to more efficiently generate better evidence for medical device evaluation and regulatory decision-making by strategically and systematically leveraging real-world evidence and applying advanced analytics to data tailored to the unique data needs and innovation cycles of medical devices.

Fleurence’s experience directing PCORI’s initiative to develop PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, positions her well to lead this MDIC initiative, noted PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH.

Fleurence has been a driving force at PCORI in taking PCORnet from a concept to a robust network that is advancing PCORI’s mission of supporting patient-centered outcomes research. Under her direction, PCORnet has grown into a nationwide resource for faster, more efficient patient-driven studies.

PCORnet represents a $330 million investment from PCORI and today involves 130 health institutions across the country in its clinical data research networks as well as 20 patient-powered research networks and covers 110 million patients. PCORnet just launched an independent foundation, the People-Centered Research Foundation (PCRF), in March 2017, a milestone in the network’s evolution to be a self-sustaining research resource for the nation.

“While there is much work to be done by PCORI in support of both PCORnet and PCRF, this is a natural time for someone with Rachael’s skill set to consider her next challenge,” Selby said. “The start-up environment suits her intellect and personality. We anticipate a close working relationship between PCORnet, PCRF, and NEST. We know that Rachael will bring the same success to the initiatives she undertakes at NEST that she brought to PCORnet and PCORI.”

Fleurence joined PCORI in April 2012 as one of the institute’s first employees. She led PCORI’s program focused on improving methodology through 2015 before becoming director of PCORI’s program on research infrastructure.