Nilay Shah

Managing Director of Health Benefits, Analytics and Innovation, Delta Air Lines

Nilay D. Shah, Ph.D., is Managing Director of Health Benefits, Analytics and Innovation at Delta Air Lines. As part of this role he oversees health, dental and vision benefits as well as wellness benefits. In addition, he oversees advanced health analytics and health innovation. Previously he was a consultant and chair of the Division of Health Care Policy and Research at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Dr. Shah was also the Director for Research in the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. In addition, and he was scientific director of OptumLabs, a collaboration between Optum Inc. and the Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. He held the academic rank of Professor of Health Services Research in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.

Dr. Shah earned his B.S. in pharmacy and M.S. in hospital administration at the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy – Madison. He subsequently completed his Ph.D. in population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, as well.

Dr. Shah has served on expert panels for the Agency for Health Care Research Quality, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Business Group on Health and study sections for the National Institutes of Health. He chairs the Committee on Evidence-based Benefits for Business Group on Health. In addition, he serves on the Advisory Board for the Peterson Health Technology Institute. He previously co-led the FDA funded Yale-Mayo Clinic Center for Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI). He was a co-PI for the PCORI-funded Clinical Data Research Network (LHSNet) and led the CMMI funded Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative. These experiences and a myriad of others have given Dr. Shah the leadership tools and knowledge necessary to support the discovery, translation and application of research to application.