Innovation and research have been integral elements of Geisinger's mission since its beginnings. Research permeates all aspects of healthcare, from disease prevention and treatment to delivery.

We focus our innovation and research efforts on what can be done uniquely at Geisinger. We leverage our high-quality patient care; fully integrated healthcare system; large, stable patient population; advanced electronic health record; and clinical data warehouse to create healthcare services and delivery which will improve quality of care while enhancing access and affordability.

Geisinger continues to build upon and enhance our national leadership role as a Learning Health System, with our focus on integrating innovation and research into the routine process of caring for patients. Geisinger demonstrates all of the key elements of a Learning Health System, such as its ability to capture, mine and analyze data through the electronic health record and enterprise-wide clinical data warehouse and use of ProvenCare initiatives in pioneering innovative, evidence-based strategies to improve quality and control costs.

History of research at Geisinger

2016: Center for Pharmacy Innovation and Outcomes established under leadership of Eric Wright, PharmD, and Mike Evans, RPh.

2015: Geisinger named to eMERGE Network Phase III.

2014: Geisinger's Institute for Advanced Application was founded. Gregory L. Moore, MD, PhD, named director.

2014: Five-year collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to sequence at least 100,000 consented patient volunteers launched in January and proceeded ahead of schedule.

2013: Geisinger's Autism and Developmental Medicine Institute was founded. The first ADMI Center, a Geisinger-Bucknell University collaboration, opens in Lewisburg. Christa Lese Martin, PhD, recruited as director.

2012: Geisinger joins eMERGE (Electronic Medical Records and Genomics) Network Phase II.

2012: F. Daniel Davis, PhD, recruited as the first system-wide director of bioethics.

2011: Geisinger's Genomic Medicine Institute was founded under the direction of Marc Williams, MD.

2010: David H. Ledbetter, PhD, named Geisinger’s first full-time chief scientific officer and executive vice president.

2008: Geisinger's Obesity Institute was founded under the direction of Christopher Still, DO.

2007: $21 million Henry Hood Center for Health Research building opens, a state-of-the-art "green" building.

2006: Geisinger Center for Clinical Studies founded; Peter Berger, MD, becomes first director. Center focuses on increasing the number of studies that test new drugs, devices and techniques.

2004: Genomic Medicine Research Program initiated.

2003: Geisinger Center for Health Research founded; Walter "Buzz" Stewart, PhD, MPH, becomes first director. Center emphasizes studies on population, rates of illness and disability within communities.

1999: Clinical Trials Office established.

1986: Howard Morgan, MD, appointed as Weis Center's first director.

1985: The Sigfried and Janet Weis Center for Research breaks ground.

1983: Geisinger Clinical Oncology Program receives a $250,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute through the Community Clinical Oncology Program.

1982: Geisinger endows $7.5 million to support Geisinger research; the number of research projects top 100.

1971: Center for Health Services and Research and Development begins full operation.

1970s: Ground-breaking research includes the Propranolol Myocardial Infarction Study, the immunotherapy of lung cancer and Dr. Christine Smull's work that proved the Pasteurella multocida infection could have human hosts.

1966: First U.S. National Institutes of Health grant is awarded to Charles A. Laubach, MD, for his Coronary Drug Project; other Geisinger investigators receive funding from the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association.

1962: The Institute for Medical Education and Research is established.

1952: Research Laboratory, the first in the area, is established.

1941: Under the direction of Roy E. Nicodemus, MD, physicians present original work on the use of oxygen in the treatment of eclampsia.

1931: Medical Library is the first to be organized at a hospital in the area.

1927: Geisinger physicians treat sufferers of Bright’s disease with a “liberal diet influenced by their natural appetites.”

1920: Dr. Harold Foss asserts that Geisinger's most urgent needs include equipment and a research laboratory.

1916: Research concentrates on diabetes mellitus, heart disease and kidney disease.

1915: Abigail Geisinger founded Geisinger Clinic and appointed Dr. Harold Foss as the hospital's first director.