Nakela Cook
Executive Director, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
Nakela Cook is the Executive Director at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). She is a cardiologist and health services researcher with a distinguished career leading key scientific initiatives engaging patients, clinicians, and other healthcare stakeholders at some of the nation’s largest health research funders. Cook leads PCORI’s research, engagement, dissemination and implementation, and research infrastructure development work. Under her leadership and with extensive engagement of stakeholders, PCORI established a bold vision in its Strategic Plan that builds on its past work to address the challenges, including social determinants of health, facing patients and communities in our nation’s complex, fast-changing health system. Prior to her current role, Cook served as Senior Scientific Officer and Chief of Staff at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the third largest institute of the National Institutes of Health. She spearheaded the development and implementation of NHLBI’s strategic plan and initiatives in cardiovascular outcomes, precision medicine, data science, sickle cell disease, and women’s health.
