# Ziad Obermeyer

> Ziad Obermeyer is a physician-scientist and professor at UC Berkeley whose 2019 Science paper exposing racial bias in a healthcare algorithm used by millions changed how the world thinks about AI fairness. An emergency medicine doctor who moonlights as a machine learning researcher, McKinsey alum, and serial founder, Obermeyer co-founded Dandelion Health and Nightingale Open Science while testifying before Congress and earning a spot on TIME's 100 Most Influential People in AI.

- **Role:** Blue Cross of California Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Management at UC Berkeley School of Public Health
- **Organizations:** UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Dandelion Health, Nightingale Open Science, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, Waymark
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** A.B. in History and Science (magna cum laude, highest honors in field), Harvard College, M.Phil. in History and Philosophy of Science (Frank Knox Fellow), University of Cambridge, M.D. (magna cum laude), Harvard Medical School, Clinical Residency in Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital / Massachusetts General Hospital
- **Known for:** TIME 100 Most Influential People in AI (2023), NIH Director's Early Independence Award (2015) - NIH's most prestigious award for exceptional junior scientists, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator - $1M unrestricted grant over 5 years

## Career timeline

- **2001** — Graduated Harvard College magna cum laude with degree in History and Science
- **2002** — Completed M.Phil. at Cambridge as Frank Knox Fellow
- **2002-2005** — Management Consultant at McKinsey & Co. (New Jersey, Geneva, Tokyo)
- **2008** — Graduated Harvard Medical School magna cum laude
- **2008-2012** — Emergency Medicine Residency at Brigham and Women's / MGH
- **2012** — Joined Harvard Medical School faculty as Assistant Professor
- **2015** — Received NIH Director's Early Independence Award - NIH's most prestigious junior scientist award
- **2018** — Moved to UC Berkeley School of Public Health as Associate Professor; named Blue Cross of California Distinguished Professor
- **2019** — Published landmark paper in Science exposing racial bias in a widely-used healthcare algorithm
- **2020** — Co-founded Dandelion Health, a venture-backed AI data platform
- **2021** — Co-founded Nightingale Open Science, a non-profit medical imaging dataset initiative ($6M funding)
- **2022** — Named Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator ($1M, 5-year grant)
- **2023** — Named to TIME 100 Most Influential People in AI
- **2024** — Testified before U.S. Senate Finance Committee on AI and healthcare (February)
- **2025** — Testified before U.S. House Oversight Subcommittee on technology's role in healthcare affordability (December)

## Achievements

- TIME 100 Most Influential People in AI (2023)
- NIH Director's Early Independence Award (2015) - NIH's most prestigious award for exceptional junior scientists
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator - $1M unrestricted grant over 5 years
- Named Emerging Leader in Health Research by the National Academy of Medicine
- Published landmark paper in Science (2019) proving racial bias in widely-used healthcare algorithm
- Testified before U.S. Senate Finance Committee on AI and healthcare
- Testified before U.S. House Oversight subcommittee on healthcare technology
- Blue Cross of California Distinguished Professor at UC Berkeley
- Co-founder of Dandelion Health (venture-backed) and Nightingale Open Science ($6M nonprofit)
- Frank Knox Fellow at University of Cambridge
- Graduated Harvard College and Harvard Medical School both magna cum laude

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — Testified before U.S. House Oversight Subcommittee on technology's role in lowering healthcare costs; raised concerns about U.S. data regulations slowing healthcare AI innovation
- **2025-11** — Presented 'Bedside to Bench: Reinventing Medicine with AI' at Stockholm School of Economics
- **2025-09** — Delivered seminar at USC Schaeffer Center on 'Bedside to Bench: Reinventing Medicine with AI'
- **2024-02** — Testified before U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing on AI and healthcare, warning about racial bias and recommending regulatory guardrails
- **2023-00** — Named to TIME 100 Most Influential People in AI

## Links

- Website: https://ziadobermeyer.com/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/oziadias

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ziad-obermeyer
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-30