Sheehan Named NLM Deputy Director

Jerry Sheehan

Jerry Sheehan was recently named deputy director of the National Library of Medicine.

“I have personally known Jerry for over 15 years and find in him creativity, wise counsel and clear thinking,” said NLM director Dr. Patricia Flatley Brennan, who made the appointment. “Upon my arrival to NLM, I was delighted to reconnect with him and to work together on integrating data science and open science into the NLM portfolio.”

During his more than 10 years as assistant director for policy development at NLM, Sheehan has made major contributions to the development and implementation of policy related to open science, public access to government-funded information, clinical trials registration and electronic health records. He has built relationships with key NLM partners, including health sciences librarians and informatics researchers. From September 2015 to January 2017, he was detailed to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as assistant director for scientific data and information; he worked to develop public access policies at all federal science agencies.  

Prior to joining NLM, Sheehan served for 6 years as principal administrator/senior economist in the science & technology policy division of the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, where he led an international team of researchers and policy makers focusing on science and innovation, data science and open science. At the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, he served as study director on reports sponsored by NLM: one on the privacy and security of electronic health data and another on health applications of the Internet. 

Sheehan holds both a master’s degree in technology and policy and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.