Lee H. Schwamm, MD

Lee H. Schwamm, MD, is an internationally recognized expert in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA). His research and clinical interests focus on stroke in the young and those whose strokes are without apparent cause (called cryptogenic strokes). He has been a leader in stroke clinical research, and has participated in the design or conduct of major trials that have defined how stroke is currently measured and treated, and how the guideline-recommended treatments are actually administered when patients are hospitalized for stroke. He deeply enjoys mentoring emerging leaders in academic medicine, and his work has been recognized by major grants and awards, including several of the highest volunteer awards from the American Heart Association.

In addition to his expertise in stroke, Dr. Schwamm is a leader in digital health and digital transformation. He realized early on that his work as a neurologist could be augmented with the infusion of big data, technology, and focusing on improving the processes of how health care is delivered. This translates to redesigning care delivery through the human-centered lens of the experiences of patients and providers, and letting the clinical problem drive what technology can be used to make things better (and not the other way around). “We have a real opportunity now to start capturing a lot more information about our patients in the parts of their life beyond the clinic and the hospital, such as with monitors, sensors, and smartphones, to regularly collect weight, activity, or blood pressure and transmit those results to the electronic medical record,” Dr. Schwamm says. By doing so, doctors can build a smarter profile of their patients, tailor treatments to them as individuals, and get their risk factors under control faster and more safely.

“I’ve always been drawn to the brain,” says Dr. Schwamm. “This fascination began when I chose to major in philosophy in college, and it drove me to choose neurology as my specialty. Within neurology, I gravitated to stroke because of the new treatments that had just emerged that could halt or reverse the damage being caused to the brain. I was able to make a major contribution by developing the ability to leverage technology to increase access to stroke specialists and improve outcomes for all stroke patients, not just those lucky enough to live near a major stroke center.”

Dr. Schwamm also serves as senior vice president and chief digital health officer for Yale New Haven Health (YNHH) and as a professor in Biomedical Informatics & Data Sciences at Yale School of Medicine (YSM). As the associate dean for digital strategy and transformation, he is leading the development of a new digital health strategy for YSM and YNHH. Dr. Schwamm has done extensive research and is especially interested in patterns of care delivery for stroke in the United States; how patients move from one health system to another during emergencies, before or after their stroke; and opportunities to identify and eliminate inequities in care.

“I often say, my car gets better health care than I do. Most patients show up in my office when they have the equivalent of a flat tire, or have run out of gas, or have an engine that is overheated, metaphorically speaking,” he says, “Our job as health care providers is to intervene before those critical events happen.”

All my goals really boil down to removing the barriers between patients and the care they need, Dr. Schwamm adds. “One way is to build high-reliability systems wherever we can so that we don't rely on people doing the right thing every time with good intention, but rather, we have systems that support us in doing that right thing every time.”