Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP

“The purpose is to support humans, not replace them. It is about augmented intelligence, not replaced intelligence.”

Kyu Rhee is the Vice President and Chief Health Officer of IBM and Watson Health. He maintains global responsibilities for Watson Health and assuring a culture of health at IBM.

Prior to joining IBM, he was the Chief Public Health Officer at the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), where he led numerous public health initiatives, and Director of Innovation in Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health, where he worked to eliminate health disparities and promote health equity.

Rhee was an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health, where he received the Best Teacher Award for his course in Community Health Leadership. He was concurrently serving as a National Health Service Corps Scholar and Medical Director at Upper Cardozo Health Center, the largest community health center in Washington, DC.

Rhee received his B.S. in biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology from Yale University; M.P.P. with a concentration in health policy from Harvard Kennedy School; and M.D. from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC). He completed his residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and held the roles of physician and Medical Director at Unity Health Care and Chief Medical Officer at Baltimore Medical System.