Beth Israel Deaconess Established New Research Institute

The hospital launched a multidisciplinary institute to advance health policy and medical innovation.

Updated on Sept. 30, 2026 in People

Isometric editorial illustration featuring a laboratory vessel holding stacked cubes, representing a new multidisciplinary medical research institute in Boston. — Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has launched the Smith Institute for Evidence, Innovation and Policy to centralize health policy and medical research collaboration. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has established the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Institute for Evidence, Innovation and Policy. The new entity builds upon the existing Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Boston.

Why it matters

The institute aims to foster multidisciplinary collaboration across centers dedicated to health policy, clinical outcomes, medical devices, and artificial intelligence. It will also expand training programs for investigators and fellows from institutions globally.

The new institute expands upon the Smith Center for Outcomes Research, which currently supports over 60 faculty investigators, statisticians, and research fellows. This infrastructure provides the base for the new multi-center organization.

The players

Robert Yeh

Robert Yeh serves as the executive chair of the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Institute for Evidence, Innovation and Policy.

Rishi Wadhera

Rishi Wadhera serves as the director of the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Institute for Evidence, Innovation and Policy.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a Boston-based academic medical center that operates as a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School.

The details

The newly formed institute incorporates specialized centers focusing on clinical outcomes, quantitative methods, medical device innovation, and AI in medicine. It provides centralized strategic leadership and shared resources to facilitate research collaboration among investigators.

The Smith Center for Outcomes Research was founded in 2015.
The Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Institute was established on September 30, 2026.

Market Landscape

The new organization follows the model established by the Smith Center for Outcomes Research to scale multidisciplinary medical analysis. By centralizing resources, the institute positions itself to compete for broader influence in health policy and AI-driven clinical research.

Patients may benefit from accelerated developments in medical device innovation and clinical care standards resulting from this research. The institute also creates new professional training pipelines for medical investigators from around the world.

The takeaway

Centralizing research infrastructure allows academic medical centers to tackle complex health policy and technology challenges more efficiently. This model of shared leadership is increasingly common as hospitals seek to leverage data and AI to improve patient outcomes.