F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCE, is a nephrologist who treats patients in Yale New Haven Hospital who have kidney issues or who developed one while hospitalized for another problem. He is also an epidemiologist and a prolific researcher focused on studying ways to improve patient care.
“All my work is inspired by my patients,” Dr. Wilson says. “I'm inspired by their bravery in the face of adversity. Being sick is lonely, frightening, and sometimes painful. And yet the resilience I see in my patients inspires me to be stronger myself.”
While medicine has made amazing advances over the years, Dr. Wilson says the more doctors learn, the more they realize what we don't know. “Medical mysteries and challenges emerge every day when we take care of patients, and the idea of being one of those people that solves those mysteries was what drew me to clinical research,” he says.
An associate professor at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Wilson is director of the Yale Clinical and Translational Research Accelerator, which is dedicated to the process of applying discoveries generated in the laboratory and in preclinical experiments to the development of clinical studies and the design of clinical trials. He is codirector of the Yale Section of Nephrology’s Human Genetics and Clinical Research Core, which provides services to enhance translational studies in kidney disease, particularly in the area of human genetics.
“My research tries to directly impact patient care,” Dr. Wilson says. Since 2014, his goal has been to use patient-level data and advanced analytics to personalize medicine to each individual patient. He has been involved in developing and testing systems that can support providers, sometimes in real-time, in finding ways to improve their care. “These tools have the potential to improve care across the board in an evidence-based and equitable fashion,” he says.
Dr. Wilson is internationally recognized for his expertise in design and interpretation of medical studies. He is the creator of the popular online course "Understanding Medical Research: Your Facebook Friend Is Wrong" on the Coursera platform.
