Berger named associate chief research officer for clinical studies

DANVILLE, PA - May 9, 2006 -  Peter B. Berger, MD, has been named associate chief research officer for clinical studies for Geisinger Health System. In this position he will be responsible for enhancing and expanding clinical “translational research” activities -- taking research developed in the laboratory and putting it into clinical practice so new discoveries can reach the patient much sooner.

“Dr. Berger has a national reputation as one of the most accomplished clinicians and researchers in the country,” said Geisinger President & CEO Glenn Steele, Jr., M.D., Ph.D. “He brings to us extensive experience in integrating research into clinical practice and a proven track record of success as a researcher and organizational leader.” 

Dr. Steele believes that Geisinger is uniquely positioned to become a national leader in meaningful clinical research because of its advanced electronic health record and sophisticated data management system which connects an integrated network of hospitals and physicians with one of the country’s largest rural health plans. Geisinger Health System includes, among other components, three hospitals and 41 outpatient clinics. 

Dr. Berger was most recently at Duke University and the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, NC, where he was a professor of medicine, the director of interventional cardiology, and the co-director of the cardiac device research in the Duke Clinical Research Institute. For 14 years prior, Dr. Berger was associated with the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine as a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. He also worked in the Division of Cardiology in the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Coronary Care Unit, and was director of the Cardiac Catheterization Interventional Databank Research Group at Mayo.

“I am thrilled about joining the Geisinger team and feel that so much of what I have learned at the Mayo Clinic and the Duke Clinical Research Institute has served to prepare me for this unbelievable opportunity,” said Dr. Berger. “I am impressed with the clinical care Geisinger provides and with their ‘patient-first’ approach. They are continuously examining and reexamining and improving the clinical care they provide; it really is superb. And I am so excited about the innovative means of clinical research with which Geisinger has recently become involved. I think that the main factor limiting the development of a phenomenal world-class clinical research program at Geisinger will be our imaginations”.

Dr. Berger will practice interventional cardiology while he works in conjunction with the leaders of Geisinger’s Weis Center for Research and The Center for Health Research & Rural Advocacy to capitalize on the unique translational research capabilities at Geisinger. 

Dr. Berger is a diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners, the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American College of Cardiology and the Board of Internal Medicine (Interventional Cardiology). He is a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine and, in that capacity, helps write the Interventional Cardiology Board Exam. He currently serves, or recently served on the cath and interventional cardiology committees of the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the Society of Coronary Angiography and Intervention. He is a member of numerous professional societies and editorial boards and has participated in and led dozens of research studies throughout his career.

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