E Andrew Balas

Early years and education

The youngest among three children, Balas was born to Balás Andrea, a teacher of French language and Balás Gábor, an attorney, journal editor and historian. Gábor Balás, rose to prominence as researcher of szekely history and advocate for minority rights (the cultural center of Gyergyóremete and a street are named after him). His great grandfather was Vilmos Sumegi, media magnate in Budapest and long-serving member of the Hungarian Parliament (Országgyűlés), Gyergyo district, in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

Andrew Balas went to the Piarista Gimnázium (Budapest). Subsequently, he studied general medicine at Semmelweis University. For five years, he was the editor of the student newspaper Visus. In 1977, he graduated ranked first in the medical school class (MD). In the following year, he completed twelve months of compulsory military service in Taborfalva and Budapest. Later he worked as research faculty member in the Computing Center at Semmelweis University. Simultaneously, he enrolled in the mathematics program of Eötvös Loránd University. Among his professors were Paul Erdős and László Babai. In 1983, he graduated with an MS in Applied Mathematics.

In 1984, he worked for the Registry of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association (London, UK). After returning to Budapest, he worked as associate director of the Institute of Health Care Organization, Planning and Informatics for several years. In 1988, he moved to the United States. Working as a research fellow at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, he enrolled in the medical informatics PhD program of the University of Utah and graduated in 1991.

Academic career

In 1991, Andrew Balas joined the University of Missouri in Columbia as assistant professor. He quickly rose to the rank of tenured full Professor, Director of the Missouri European Union Center and Weil Distinguished Professor of Health Policy at the University of Missouri. Subsequently, he served as Dean of the Saint Louis University School of Public Health and later Dean of the College of Health Sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

His expertise includes development of priorities for innovative research responsive to societal needs, performance measurement of university technology transfer and application of advanced digital technologies for translating biomedical research to practice. Among others, Andrew Balas is the lead authors of the landmark study on the transfer of research evidence from clinical trials to patient care. The widely cited study estimated that it takes an average of 17 years to put new scientific evidence into practice.

Balas has received grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Commonwealth Fund, Center for Disease Control (CDC), European Commission, National Library of Medicine, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Education, American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Arthritis Foundation, Center for Health Management Research, Missouri Kidney Program, Deseret Foundation, National Institutes of Health, among others.

He has also served as consultant to Centene Corporation (St. Louis), Zynx Health (Los Angeles), Humana Health Care Plans (Kansas City), Scottish Rite Children’s Medical Center (Atlanta), Group Health Plan (St. Louis), Missouri State Medical Association (Jefferson City) and many other corporations and associations. His academic credentials include over 100 publications, externally funded research in excess of 10 million dollar and publications that cumulatively attracted thousands of citations.

Policy Development

Andrew Balas has been effective in taking on the status quo, achieving breakthrough performance improvements and fighting for better public access to scientific discoveries. Most of his scholarly activities have been focused on digital knowledge management for health care improvement.His studies about delay and waste in the transfer of research results to health care are often cited as reference points in translational research initiatives.

During the 105th Congress, Andrew Balas served as a Congressional Fellow for the Public Health and Safety Subcommittee of the United States Senate. He drafted the reauthorization act that created the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and launched one of the first government initiatives to prevent health care errors (Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999).

Biography and Family

Andrew speaks four languages, supports minority serving education overseas and completes the annual Marine Corps Marathon every year since 2005.

Andrew and his wife Louise Thai, award winning microbiology educator, have two grown sons, a physician in California and an investment executive in London, UK.

Notable Epigrams

From his book titled "Science and Standing Ground: Minority Success in the Knowledge Society" (Tortoma, 2012): "Great discoveries start in minority" "Science is replicable and generalizable knowledge" "The victim's task is first recording and later trumpeting the evidence" "We need birds that can not only sing but also lay eggs" "Thank you is a magnetic compass that shows directions and attracts friends" "Success is built on listening to others" "It is worth looking back before moving forward" "The devil is often in the big picture, not in the details" "If you have never been in the minority, you have never said anything new."