Alexander H. Krist, MD, MPH, is a nationally recognized family physician, researcher, and Professor of Family Medicine and Population Health at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He holds the Sheldon M. Retchin Professorship in Healthcare Innovation and serves as Co-Director of the Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes Research Network (ACORN).
Dr. Krist is also Director of Community-Engaged Research at VCU?s Wright Regional Center for Clinical and Translational Research and actively practices at the Fairfax Family Practice Center affiliated with Inova Health. He is a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), where he contributes to developing national preventive-care recommendations. Dr. Krist’s research focuses on primary-care delivery, shared decision-making, patient engagement, cancer screening, and the integration of health information technology into clinical practice. He is a leading thinker in operationalizing USPSTF recommendations and an innovator in using health information technology to promote implementation of evidence-based practices. Working closely with patients and practices, he developed an interactive personal health record that applies complex heuristic programming rules to tailor USPSTF recommendations to individual patients, engage them in their care, and support decision-making for patients, clinicians, and practices. He also directed a national coordinating center that designed and implemented a web-based health-risk assessment tool to promote healthy behaviors and mental well-being, which is now being piloted across the United States. Dr. Krist earned his MD from the University of Virginia and MPH from Johns Hopkins University. He has published extensively on preventive care and health information technology, has received multiple teaching and research awards, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.