Thomas S. Nesbitt, associate vice chancellor for strategic technologies and alliances, is responsible for advancing the UC Davis Health System’s excellence in telemedicine. Toward that goal, he works closely with leaders throughout the state in developing partnerships with regional hospitals, clinics and centers to expand access to quality health care and create a statewide broadband telehealth network. He also ensures that faculty and staff excel at using innovative technologies to provide high-quality, state-of-the-art medical care.

A member of the UC Davis faculty since 1988, Nesbitt is a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine who specializes in rural health and using advanced telecommunications technologies to improve access to medical education and care. He has been a driving force behind a variety of innovative programs that address the unique health-care and educational needs of diverse populations of patients and physicians, particularly in rural Northern California.

As founding director of the Center for Health and Technology, for instance, Nesbitt oversees UC Davis’ telemedicine, distance learning and medical informatics programs. A key focus of the center is assuring interaction among physicians, educators, information technology and communications specialists, engineers and researchers. The multidisciplinary collaboratives he establishes are responsible for leveraging new telecommunications technologies to improve access to high-quality patient care, information resources and medical education opportunities.

A vigorous and thoughtful contributor to public health and disaster planning, Nesbitt is a highly regarded expert on projects involving telemedicine. He is chief scientist for the UC Davis Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society. This consortium of four UC campuses creates information technology solutions our most pressing social, environmental and health-care problems.

Nesbitt also works closely with UC Office of the President, health-care policy leaders and senior staff from the state of California to implement Proposition 1D and the California Telehealth Network. The proposition, passed by California voters in November 2006, directs $200 million in building and equipment funds to the University of California to expand medical education with an emphasis in telemedicine. As co-director of the California Telehealth Network, funded by the Rural Healthcare Division of the Federal Communications Commission, Nesbitt oversees the deployment of a statewide telecommunications program that will link over 500 sites on a “digital health highway.” Together, these initiatives will greatly expand access to health-care services for many patients and families in rural regions of the state.

Nesbitt served two terms on the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and, more recently, on the Joint Advisory Committee on Communications Capabilities of Emergency Medical and Public Health Care Facilities reporting to the U.S. Congress 911 Commission to examine opportunities to utilize telecommunications to support the needs of national security.

Nesbitt received his medical degree from UC Davis, completed his residency training through the Spokane Family Medicine Residency Program -- an affiliate of the University of Washington School of Medicine -- and obtained his master's degree in public health at the University of Washington. He has co-authored more than 50 journal articles and book chapters on telemedicine. In recognition of his efforts in addressing disparities in health care, he was honored with the Best Research Study Award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine in 1992, the California Family Physician of the Year award in 1993, and the Distinguished Public Service Award and Distinguished Alumnus Award from UC Davis in 1996 and 1997, respectively. In 2006, Nesbitt accepted the prestigious American Telemedicine Association’s President’s Award on behalf of the Center for Health and Technology, an award that recognizes the breadth, depth and effectiveness of programs and services. He was recently recognized by the UC Davis School of Medicine Alumni Association with the Transformational Leadership Award.