‘Wunderkind’ Wright sets sights high

Lakeridge grad involved in medical information network at Harvard has goal of reducing deaths due to medical errors

By Cliff Newell

The Lake Oswego Review, Apr 17, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Adam Wright’s world has changed plenty since he graduated from Lakeridge in 1999. Now he’s the youngest instructor at Harvard Medical School.

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Adam Wright had just gotten his degree from graduate school last summer and he was concerned about just where he should go.

“I was wondering what career path I should take,” Wright said. “I looked at New York, Indiana. There’s not a lot of programs, maybe 12 to 20, in the field I want to be in.”

It must be admitted that Wright ended up doing pretty well for himself – Harvard Medical School, where at age 26 he is the youngest instructor. Not bad at all for a Lake Oswego guy who graduated from Lakeridge High School in 1999.

“Wunderkind” is the word used to describe Wright by the Oregon Health & Sciences University, and it is a term that would abash this humble and modest young man. But OHSU doesn’t throw out such descriptions easily, and Wright certainly fits the bill.

Of Wright’s potential, Dr. William Hersh can speak with much authority. He is head of the OHSU Department of Medical Information Clinical Epidemiology.

“Adam is one of the best and brightest we’ve ever had in our program,” Hersh said. “He’s not only smart, he’s politically savvy. He’s got involved in some national initiatives, and he’s getting some good mentorship at Harvard.

“The sky is the limit for him.”

In June of 2007 Wright became the first person to ever receive a PhD in biomedical informatics from OHSU. This marked not only a key milestone for OHSU, but it could mark a turning point in solving one of the most serious, yet under publicized, problems in American medicine: Thousands of deaths resulting from medical error.

“There are 90,000 Americans who die each year due to medical errors,” Wright said. “That’s incredible. That’s a larger number than there is for some types of cancer and other diseases.

“I am driven to bring that number down. I want to use computer technology to spot errors. It can be something as simple as forgetting a period on a prescription for medication. The result can be a giant overdose that causes death.”

This is not too great a task for someone of Wright’s intellect and character. Of course, he put his brain to good work at Lakeridge, becoming a National Merit Scholar and sparking the school’s National Science Bowl Team to the Oregon state title and a trip to the national title tournament. Yet he was also deeply involved in student life, serving as ASB vice president.

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