A Blythe Ryerson, MPH, PhD
Executive Director
A Blythe Ryerson, MPH, PhD, is the Executive Director of the Center for Research and Evaluation (CRE). In this role, she provides strategic vision, leadership, and oversight of the research activities conducted in CRE, while fostering growth and diversification of the Center’s research agenda.
For nearly two decades before joining CRE as the Executive Director, Dr. Ryerson was an accomplished epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most recently, she served in the Director role of the Division of Human Development and Disability in the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, where she provided strategic direction and oversite in leading inclusive programs, surveillance, and research to improve the health and development of children and adults with, or at risk for, disabilities. During her CDC tenure, she held various other scientific leadership roles in the Division of Viral Hepatitis within the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, and the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control in the National Center of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
Dr. Ryerson has a Master of Public Health and a Doctorate in Epidemiology from Emory University. She is a member of the Kaiser Permanente National Research Council and the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank Access Review Committee and has a faculty appointment in the Department of Health Systems Science at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.
Publications: NCBI Collections
Selected Research:
Connect for Cancer Prevention Study (CONNECT)
This project is a collaboration of 4 Kaiser Permanente (KP) regions (Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, and Northwest) and 6 additional sites participating in the assembly of a prospective multi-center cohort study that will include up to 200,000 cancer-free adults 40 through 65 years old. This cohort will serve an invaluable function in the conduct of research into cancer etiology and prevention.
Funder: National Cancer Institute
End Date: 11/03/2028
Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER): Adult cohort
CRE is one of >80 national sites participating in the RECOVERY Initiative to establish an adult cohort to better understand SARS-CoV-2 infection and follow up. We aim to characterize the incidence and prevalence of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2, characterize the clinical course and recovery of sequelae over time, and define the pathophysiology of and mechanisms of post-acute sequelae, including direct and indirect causal effects of COVID-19 infection, and potential modifiers (e.g., sex, age, and race/ethnicity).
Funder: National Institute of Health
End Date: 12/31/2028