CHAPEL HILL – Ian B. Buchanan, MD, MPH, has been named the Chief Research Officer for the UNC Health Care System. The appointment is effective August 1.

Buchanan is an experienced healthcare executive with a track record of operational, financial, and strategic success and extensive expertise in the clinical, academic, and industry spheres. For over seven years, he has held a variety of positions within UNC Health Care, most recently serving as both Vice President for Cancer and Children's Services for UNC Hospitals and as the Vice Chair for Clinical Integration in the UNC School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, positions he will retain while in his new role.

"I am excited to be able to focus on the enhanced integration of UNC Health Care’s research and patient care missions, and to work across the system to bring research innovations to patients across North Carolina," said Buchanan.

In this newly-created role, Buchanan will be responsible for developing and executing strategic plans to enhance UNC's role as a top academic health care system. Part of his efforts will involve collaboration with the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute and the UNC Health Sciences Schools to elevate the health system's position as a national leader in biomedical and translational research.

Buchanan is also tasked with organizing and streamlining clinical and translational research across the UNC campuses, physician practices, and affiliate hospitals to ensure that research is conducted efficiently and with high quality. Such research could greatly improve the quality of care provided to patients seen within the UNC Health Care System.

"With the consolidation of health care and the emergence of health informatics, essentially all studies of patients involving processes, drugs, devices or diagnostics now involve the health care system. We are so grateful to Dr. Buchanan for taking on the challenge of not only managing but also promoting research within UNC Health Care," said John Buse, MD, PhD, director of NC TraCS.

After graduating from Davidson College (1998), Buchanan earned his medical degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Medicine (2004). He then continued his education at UNC-Chapel Hill with a Master in Public Health (2006), focusing on Public Health Leadership and Healthcare Administration. Following a stint in the private sector at Optum, a UnitedHealth Group Company, Buchanan returned to UNC to hold a number of different executive positions within UNC Health Care.

Over the course of his career, Buchanan has and continues to serve on a number of boards and panels, including as a member of the North Carolina Advisory Committee on Cancer Coordination and Control, a position to which he was appointed by the Governor of North Carolina in 2015. Buchanan lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.