Clement J. McDonald, M.D. Closed Now

Dr. Clement J. McDonald is widely regarded as a pioneer in biomedical informatics and one of the most influential figures in shaping modern health data systems. Currently serving as a Senior Scientist at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH), his career has spanned over four decades of leadership in developing health data standards, electronic health records (EHRs), and clinical informatics tools that underpin healthcare systems worldwide.

Dr. McDonald is best known for developing LOINC (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes), a universal standard for identifying health measurements, observations, and documents. Today, LOINC is used globally to enable health data interoperability and exchange, playing a vital role in research, clinical practice, and public health. His contributions laid much of the foundation for how health information is shared across institutions and borders.

Before joining NIH, Dr. McDonald served as the Director of the Regenstrief Institute in Indiana, where he led groundbreaking research on EHRs, clinical decision support, and medical data exchange. Under his leadership, Regenstrief became a global model for informatics research and a testing ground for innovations in digital health systems.

At the NIH, Dr. McDonald continues to advance the use of structured health data for research and clinical care, with a focus on ensuring that standards like LOINC remain adaptive to evolving healthcare needs, including genomics, imaging, and pandemic response data.

Throughout his career, Dr. McDonald has authored hundreds of peer-reviewed articles and has been recognized with awards from the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) and other organizations. His work reflects a lifelong commitment to improving healthcare through standardized, accessible, and interoperable health data systems.