Caroline Chung, M.D., named MD Anderson’s first Chief Data Officer

MD Anderson News Release September 30, 2021

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today named Caroline Chung, M.D., associate professor of Radiation Oncology and Diagnostic Radiology, the new vice president and chief data officer (CDO), effective Oct. 1.

As the institution’s first-ever CDO, Chung will be responsible for shaping MD Anderson’s data strategy and leading its implementation from an operational and cultural perspective. She will oversee the Data Governance and Provenance Office and institutional data offices, as well as lead the formation of the principles, policies and programs for stewardship, advocacy and custodianship of data, in close collaboration with the legal, information security, risk and compliance offices.

“We have established the role of CDO to develop our data strategy and manage one of our most valuable strategic assets – our data,” said David Jaffray, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief technology and digital officer of MD Anderson. “As a practicing radiation oncologist, researcher and educator, Dr. Chung already has advanced MD Anderson’s thinking on data governance and initiated new approaches that have set an exciting path for our future. Her extensive experience leading data-driven operations and innovations makes her uniquely qualified for this role.”

Chung joined MD Anderson in 2016 when she was recruited to direct the MR Program in Radiation Oncology. Since then, she has served as the director of Imaging Technology and Innovation in Radiation Oncology; co-chair of the Tumor Measurement Initiative (TMI), the institutional platform to support standardized, automated, quantitative imaging-based tumor measurement; and co-chair of the Data Governance and Provenance Office. She was instrumental in creating the Data Governance v2.0 program, as well as the operational framework to support the Context Engine, and played a critical role in enabling the Data Driven Determinants of COVID-19 in Oncology Discovery Effort (D3CODE).

“Throughout my career, I have been motivated to deliver patient-centered, data-driven, personalized cancer care that allows our researchers to learn from each patient and ensure we achieve the best outcomes possible – all of which is accomplished through data,” Chung said. “I look forward to overseeing our data strategy and working closely with institutional stakeholders to ensure we align and execute on our strategy to provide the highest data quality and to enable valuable insights from our advances in data science.”

Internationally, Chung advocates for data-driven cancer care through her leadership roles in the Quantitative Imaging Biomarker Alliance of the Radiological Society of North America, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology and, most recently, the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements.