Alastair Thomson, Director Data Innovation, ARPA-H
Mr Thomson serves as the Acting Director for Data Innovation at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) where he leads the ARPA-H data strategy to improve sharing of biomedical research data with a particular focus on equity and trust in AI. Prior to ARPA-H he served as the Chief Information Officer at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute where he led several big data programs including the NHLBI’s BioData Catalyst cloud-based analytics platform and the data strategy for the RECOVER long-COVID research study. He has had an eclectic career that includes the inaugural Director of the University of Otago’s Computer Science Applied Research Centre, founding a computer animation company and work in broadcast television production, logistics, telecommunications, finance, insurance and federal government consulting. He holds degrees in psychology and computer science from the University of Otago.
