Biography
Dr. Dixon is not a traditional epidemiologist. Originally a computer scientist, Dr. Dixon is a public health informatician who utilizes computer and information science approaches to study, design, and improve data and information systems that support the practice of epidemiology in public health departments. He joined the IU Fairbanks School of Public Health (FSPH) in 2014 shortly after it was formed, shifting his role from being a public health researcher in the IU School of Informatics and Computing to that of an informatics researcher in a school of public health. In addition to his work at FSPH, Dr. Dixon also holds appointments as the Director of Public Health Informatics at the Regenstrief Institute and a Health Research Scientists at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Dr. Dixon has published over 75 peer-reviewed publications as well as multiple book chapters. He is further the editor of two books: Clinical Informatics Study Guide: Text and Review (2016) by Springer and Health Information Exchange: Navigating and Managing a Network of Health Information Systems (2016) by Elsevier. The Health Information Exchange book received the 2016 Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Book of the Year Award.
In 2018, Dr. Dixon was named a Research Frontiers Trailblazer by IUPUI, and he was elected to Fellowship within the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI). Previously, Dr. Dixon was recognized as a Forty Under 40 recipient by the Indianapolis Business Journal and Outstanding Investigator by the Regenstrief Institute’s Center for Biomedical Informatics. He is also a Fellow of HIMSS.
Before joining the faculty at Indiana University, Dr. Dixon managed research and development projects for Regenstrief and the Indiana Health Information Exchange. Dr. Dixon also developed health information applications and systems, including tools supporting the standard clinical vocabulary LOINC®, technology supporting the automated reporting of notifiable conditions to public health agencies, and tools for querying large clinical data repositories. Dr. Dixon earned his Bachelor of Arts in computer science from DePauw University; his Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University; and his Doctor of Philosophy in Health Informatics from Indiana University.
Research Interests
Dr. Dixon’s research focuses on applying informatics methods and tools to improve population health in clinical as well as public health organizations. His work leverages clinical and administrative data in electronic health records to improve population outcomes, better understand threats to public health as well as care delivery processes, examine public health business processes, and make population surveillance more efficient. Dr. Dixon’s research also involves the design, implementation, and evaluation of information infrastructures as well as data quality in support of continuous use of electronic data.
Courses Taught
As a faculty member in IU’s Fairbanks School of Public Health, Dr. Dixon teaches courses on informatics as well as health information exchange to future leaders in clinical and public health.
Dr. Dixon teaches the following courses:
- Foundations of Public Health Informatics (PBHL-E635)
- Health Information Exchange for Population Health (PBHL-E645)
