How do you connect the needs of researchers to the capabilities of technology? What are the main stages of research and the challenges faced at each stage? And will AI and machine learning speed up research and get solutions to market faster? We will learn those answers and more in this episode with Dr. Mark Hoffman, the Chief Research Information officer for Children’s Mercy and the Children’s Mercy Research Institute, a position he has held since 2016. Dr. Hoffman earned his doctorate in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He later joined Cerner as a software engineer where he advanced to the role of Vice President for Genomics and Research. Dr. Hoffman was also part of the faculty at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC) in the Departments of Biomedical and Health Informatics and Pediatrics. His formal training in research and experience in software development has prepared him to connect the needs of researchers to the capabilities of technology. His work is focused on identifying the best capabilities possible to meet rapidly changing requirements in genomics, public health, and big data. Dr. Hoffman is an inventor of 22 issued patents, a member of the American Academy of Inventors, a TED talk alumnus, and an award-winning healthcare product developer. You can learn more about Dr. Hoffman and Children’s Mercy here: https://www.childrensmercy.org Learn more about Oracle for Researcher here: http://www.oracle.com/research ---------------------------------------------------------- Episode Transcript 00;00;00;00 - 00;00;26;02 What are the three main stages of research and the challenges each are facing? How are researchers handling the new federal policies around data sharing? And will AI and machine learning speed research and get solutions to market faster? We'll get those answers and more on this episode of Research in Action. Hello and welcome back to Research in Action, brought to you by Oracle for Research.   00;00;26;02 - 00;00;49;21 I'm Mike Stiles. And today our guest is Dr. Mark Hoffman, who is the Chief Research Information Officer for Children's Mercy and the Children's Mercy Research Institute. That's a position he's held since 2016. Dr. Hoffman earned his doctorate in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later joined Cerner as a software engineer, where he went on to be Vice President for genomics and research.   00;00;49;24 - 00;01;17;11 Dr. Hoffman was also part of the faculty at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and the Departments of Biomedical and Health Informatics and Pediatrics. Now, because he's had formal training and research and real-world experience in software development, he's kind of uniquely qualified to talk about what researchers need when it comes to technology. His work focuses on identifying the best capabilities to meet requirements in genomics, public health and big data that are always changing.   00;01;17;14 - 00;01;38;22 He's an inventor of 95 issued patents, a member of the American Academy of Inventors, a TED Talk alumnus, and an award-winning health care product developer. And honest to gosh, that's about the shortest intro I could come up with for someone who is so accomplished. So, we're glad you are with us today, Dr. Hoffman. Well, thanks, Mike. I look forward to talking with you.   00;01;38;24 - 00;02;05;06 Our audience is going to be particularly lucky that they decided to stream this episode because there's a lot to cover. But first of all, what got you into research to begin with? Kind of what led you to each step along the way to where you are now at Children's Mercy? Well, it's a long story, but, you know, I think as a kid, I was always curious and I enjoyed Legos and, you know, taking things apart.   00;02;05;06 - 00;02;36;00 And so, in hindsight, I see all the foundations. And that took me a while to realize that my interests are really split between doing science and