William Barnett became the Senior Director of Research Computing, at Harvard Medical School in January, 2019. In this role, he provides leadership in advanced information technologies that enable the research mission for Harvard Medical School. He is responsible for research computing consulting, training, and support for O2, HMS’s 350 node high performance environment, and other research IT environments, support for research IT solutions such as the Microscopy Imaging Core, data management and data management planning, and piloting novel research IT solutions in partnership with HMS investigators. His team supports investigators across HMS, partner schools such as the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and affiliated hospitals. Bill is a member of the Harvard University Executive Research Computing Council, and the incoming chair of the Steering Committee of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Group on Information Resources (GIR).
Bill has over 11 years of experience leading research IT efforts for life sciences in academia. Before joining HMS, Bill played a number of roles at Indiana University, culminating as the CIO for the Indiana University Precision Health Initiative and as faculty in the IU School of Medicine Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics and with the Regenstrief Institute. While at Indiana University, he led the development of informatics resources to support translational and clinical research and secondary use of electronic health records, as well as supporting secure high performance computing environments and participating in national cyber infrastructure initiatives such as the Open Science Grid. Prior to that, Bill provided laboratory and then IT leadership at the American Museum of Natural History and the Field Museum for over 15 years.
Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from the College of William and Mary, and a Masters and Ph.D. in Archaeology from Boston University. He has a research expertise in analytical microscopy applied to the production and distribution of ceramics associated with the transition from hunting and gathering to agricultural societies in western Europe. He also holds a current CISSP IT security certification.