Susan Harkness Regli, PhD

Dr. Regli’s career in the fields of human factors and human computer interaction has spanned both industry and academia to bring innovative solutions into practice to improve human performance. As the Human Factors Scientist at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, she leads key initiatives in the Office of the Chief Health Information Officer and the department of Clinical Effectiveness and Quality Improvement, and is a founder of Penn Medicine’s Center for Applied Health Informatics. In these roles she promotes design and development of effective information technology solutions and clinical decision support, as well as best practices in safety for advanced human-centered systems.

Drawing on her background in communication and information design, Dr. Regli works to bridge between intended users of technological solutions and the engineers and developers who create them. Her expertise particularly lies in addressing challenges of problem definition, user requirements gathering, workflow optimization, and evaluation design. She has specialized in researching Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tool for optimizing human performance, including incorporating natural language processing in user interfaces, embedding predictive healthcare in clinical workflows, and deploying tools based on Generative AI and Large Language Models to reduce cognitive load and improve clinician wellness.

Dr. Regli has published on topics including use of generative AI for clinicians to more efficiently and effectively reply to messages from patients, delivery of targeted palliative care and cancer care through use of a mortality prediction model, and improvements in patient safety for single-patient insulin pens used in hospital settings. Prior to her work in healthcare, she spearheaded advanced research in human cognitive and collaborative activities at Lockheed Martin and Xerox PARC. Dr. Regli earned her doctorate in Rhetoric from Carnegie Mellon University, where she was affiliated with the Human-Computer Interaction Institute.

Accreditations

• Adjunct Assistant Professor of Informatics, Penn Medicine
• Human Factors Scientist, University of Pennsylvania Health System
• Co-founder, Penn Medicine Center for Applied Health Informatics
• College of Science and Mathematics Advancement & Advocacy Board for Rowan University

Education

• PhD, Carnegie Mellon University 2000
• MA, University of Virginia, 1994
• MA, Hollins University, 1990
• BA, St Joseph’s University, 1989

Contact

susan.regli@pennmedicine.upenn.edu