Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Names Sue Sheridan Director of Patient Engagement

News provided by

Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

Nov 14, 2012, 02:30 ET

Trusted patient advocate to lead PCORI's patient engagement team

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has named Sue Sheridan, MBA, MIM, as Director of Patient Engagement. Sheridan, who served as PCORI's Deputy Director of Patient Engagement since February, will be responsible for the development and execution of PCORI's patient engagement strategy to bring the voices of patients, caregivers, and patient advocates to PCORI's research agenda.

"Sue Sheridan is building a solid foundation to support PCORI's commitment to meaningfully engage patients in high-quality comparative clinical effectiveness research," said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH. "Her passion and sincerity have earned the trust of patients and advocates. Her strong ties to patient communities will be invaluable as we build a body of solid research that will help patients and those who care for them make better-informed health and healthcare decisions. Her appreciation of the need for rigorous evaluation of all we do will ensure that our engagement efforts are effective."

Since joining PCORI, Sheridan has worked to engage patients across the nation to provide input on the institute's National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda and Methodology Standards. She also envisioned and executed PCORI's first patient engagement workshop to start building a patient-centered research community.

Sheridan became involved in patient advocacy after her family experienced two serious medical system failures. Her son, Cal, suffered brain damage called kernicterus five days after his birth in 1995 when his neonatal jaundice went untreated. Her husband, Pat, died in 2002 after his diagnosis of spinal cancer failed to be communicated to him or his clinicians.

Prior to joining PCORI, Sheridan led the World Health Organization's Patients for Patient Safety initiative, which embraces the collective wisdom of the patient, patient empowerment and patient-centered care. She is co-founder and past president of Parents of Infants and Children with Kernicterus (PICK), which works in partnership with private and public health agencies to eradicate kernicterus. In 2003, Sue co-founded Consumers Advancing Patient Safety (CAPS), a nonprofit organization that seeks a safe, compassionate and just health care system through proactive partnership between consumers and providers of care. Sheridan served as president of CAPS from 2003-2010.

About PCORI
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health care decisions. PCORI is committed to continuously seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work. More information is available at www.pcori.org.

SOURCE Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute