Dr. Jim Welsh joined CHCANYS in June 2011 as Director of Data Systems. In this capacity, he will help CHCANYS develop internal and external data and analysis resources to better inform policy and program decisions.
Over the past three decades, he created innovative tools to enhance the analytic capabilities of public and private organizations, including early efforts to apply geographic information technologies to health and human services. His public-sector experience includes a decade as Bureau Chief for Policy Analysis at the NYS Department of Social Services and a 15-year engagement with Health Research Inc., assisting the NYS Department of Health’s Office of Health Insurance Programs and Office of Health Systems Management. Between the two periods of public employment, he established an academic research center and a consultancy to promote geographic analysis of social issues, and served as manager of healthcare marketing for a leading geographic software firm.
After earning a doctorate in social psychology at Harvard University, he completed a post-doctoral fellowship in behavioral health research at the University of Chicago. He is a past president of the New York State Chapter of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association and was a keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Australian Urban and Regional Information Systems Association.
