Kim Unertl is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics in the School of Medicine at Vanderbilt University, where she also serves as Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Biomedical Informatics. She earned her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Marquette University, followed by an M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Informatics from Vanderbilt University, completing her doctorate in December 2009 under advisor Nancy Lorenzi. Unertl joined the Vanderbilt faculty in August 2010 and has advanced to her current associate professor role. Her research centers on the intersection of health information technology and clinical workflow, encompassing the design and implementation of technology to support healthcare delivery. Key areas of focus include chronic disease care and community engagement in research settings, as well as the development of evidence-based strategies for organizational change management during technology implementations. She is an expert in qualitative methods for studying clinical coordination, collaboration, and the 'invisible' work that underpins effective healthcare processes, with the goal of contributing to more useful and usable health information technologies.

Unertl is a nationally recognized leader in biomedical informatics education and workforce development. She directs the Department of Biomedical Informatics summer programs for high school and undergraduate students and serves as co-PI for the NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates site, Program for Access to Training in Health Informatics (REU-PATHI). Additionally, she is co-founder and co-director of the NLM-funded AMIA High School Scholars Program, which supports high school students presenting research at the annual AMIA Symposium. Within the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), she has served as past chair of the People and Organizational Issues Working Group, is a member of the Diana Forsythe Award Committee, and holds an at-large position on the ACMI Executive Committee. Her contributions to education have been honored with the DBMI Outstanding Educator Award in 2016 and induction into the Vanderbilt School of Medicine’s Academy for Excellence in Education in 2017. She holds professional designations including ACHIP, FACMI, and FAMIA, reflecting her influence in advancing the biomedical informatics field through research, teaching, and leadership.

Professional Email: kim.unertl@vanderbilt.edu