Bio
Blythe Adamson, PhD, MPH, is a pharmacoepidemiologist and economist who has spent her career at the intersection of health economics, data science, and policy. She served as Head of Outcomes Research and Evidence Generation at Flatiron Health, where she pioneered deep learning models for electronic health records and built AI-powered oncology data platforms across the US, UK, Germany, and Japan. Previously, she was the lead pandemic data scientist in the West Wing at The White House, advising the President on COVID-19 strategy and bridging health and economic policy. She trained top military strategists at the Pentagon on pandemic modeling. In 2017, she founded Infectious Economics, an advisory practice serving government agencies, life sciences companies, AI organizations, and businesses including Disney, Broadway theaters, and professional sports leagues. Her work has been featured on C-SPAN, CNBC, BBC, NPR, and in The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone.
The Mission
Health innovation rewards highest willingness-to-pay rather than greatest health impact. I’ve spent my career building the tools to fix that.
The biggest barriers to better health decisions aren’t lack of data, it’s lack of translation into actionable knowledge.
Key Accomplishments
- Led the study proving Medicaid expansion eliminated racial disparities in timely cancer treatment — presented at ASCO plenary, covered by NPR, CNBC, and The Cancer Letter
- Served as lead epidemiologist advising Disney, the NBA, Warby Parker, Broadway theaters and more on safety protocols and RWD systems that enabled the safe return of live sports, entertainment, manufacturing, and retail.
- Advised the White House on pandemic strategy, including reopening models, ventilator allocation, and testing infrastructure
- Built and validated AI-powered oncology data platforms across four countries — US, UK, Germany, and Japan — navigating GDPR, APPI, and local-language health records to create harmonized, research-grade datasets where none existed before
- Named one of Business Insider’s 30 Leaders Transforming Healthcare
- 2025 ISPOR HEOR Excellence Award in Methodology
Professional Experience
- Founder, Infectious Economics (2017–present) — Advisory practice serving governments, pharma, AI organizations, and financial services firms on cost-effective health strategies
- Head of Outcomes Research & Evidence Generation, Flatiron Health — Led teams pioneering deep learning models for EHR data extraction, generated real-world evidence from millions of cancer patients, created a patented ML-enabled clinical decision-support tool used in oncology clinics, and expanded data operations to the UK, Germany, and Japan
- Lead Data Scientist, The White House COVID-19 Response — Advised the President on pandemic strategy including reopening models, ventilator allocation, and testing infrastructure from the West Wing
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Institute for Disease Modeling — Infectious disease modeling and cost-effectiveness analysis for global health interventions
- NIAID HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) & Fred Hutch Cancer Center — HIV vaccine trial design and analysis
- The Pentagon — Trained military strategists on pandemic modeling and preparedness
- Affiliate Professor, University of Washington — CHOICE Institute (Comparative Health Outcomes, Policy and Economics), School of Pharmacy
Where I’m Heading
Currently building the frameworks that policymakers, AI leaders, and health systems need to direct AI investment toward maximum societal health impact. The VALID Framework — a comprehensive methodology for evaluating AI-extracted clinical data published in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics — is my most recent methodological contribution. An annual index measuring where AI creates the most health value for society is in development, alongside a book that synthesizes this body of work into a strategic resource for decision-makers.
Awards & Recognition
- ISPOR HEOR Excellence Award in Methodology (2025)
- Business Insider 30 Leaders Transforming Healthcare
- Davis Wright Tremaine Most Innovative Award — Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, University of Washington
Education & Teaching
PhD in Pharmaceutical Science and MPH in Epidemiology, University of Washington. BS in Microbiology. Affiliate Professor at The Comparative Health Outcomes Policy and Economics (CHOICE) Institute at the University of Washington.
Lecturing at major universities on cost-effectiveness analysis, health technology assessment, and reproducible real world data analysis. Dr. Adamson remains a leader in the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR).