Krishna Kumar Kookal

Biosketch

Krishna Kumar Kookal serves as Director of Informatics at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry, where he leads initiatives in data, reporting, analytics, and clinical informatics. Since joining the School of Dentistry in 2014, he has helped advance data-driven decision-making across clinical operations, education, research, and quality improvement. In his current role, he oversees enterprise reporting across Epic and axiUm EHRs, directs business intelligence and data infrastructure efforts, and collaborates with faculty and institutional leaders to develop data solutions that support patient care, operational excellence, and strategic planning.

With over two decades of experience spanning industry, healthcare startups, and academia, Krishna brings a broad perspective on the application of technology in healthcare. He is the lead architect of the BigMouth Dental Data Repository, one of the largest oral health research networks in the country, connecting academic dental institutions and enabling large-scale research through shared clinical data. His work focuses on electronic health records, data integration, analytics, cloud technologies, and artificial intelligence, with an emphasis on improving patient safety, quality of care, and research capabilities through the effective use of data.

Areas of Expertise

• Health Informatics
• Enterprise Reporting and Analytics
• Epic and axiUm Data Systems
• Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
• Data Strategy and Governance
• Electronic Health Record Integration
• Learning Health Systems
• Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
• Research Data Warehousing
• Data Visualization and Decision Support