Advocate for Joy Honoree – Power Builder
Dr. Renaldo Blocker is the co-founder of the “Why You?” Initiative, Inc.—a longitudinal support and mentoring organization that has successfully assisted more than 1,300 underrepresented high school students, undergraduate students, graduate students, and young professionals with achieving their academic and professional endeavors. Dr. Blocker has served on numerous external boards, task forces, and committees devoted to addressing diversity challenges in
education, including the Morning Glory Montessori (Minneapolis, MN) Board of Directors.
Professionally, Dr. Blocker is a consultant in the Division of Health Care Delivery Research at Mayo Clinic, an associate professor of Healthcare Systems Engineering, and the associate director of Belonging in the Kern Center. He is also the inaugural Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Honored Investigator.
Dr. Blocker served as the associate scientific director of the Mayo Clinic’s Emergency Department Clinical Engineering Laboratory (ED-CEL). He was an adjunct professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
and currently serves as an adjunct professor in the Polytechnic School in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University.
He earned his Ph.D. and Master’s in Industrial and Systems Engineering with a concentration in Human Factors and Ergonomics (Cognitive) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He
received his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Albany State University (Albany, GA) and attended San Francisco State University (San Francisco, CA) for a Master’s in Computer Science.
His research focuses on evaluating complex healthcare systems utilizing cognitive engineering and/or neuroergonomic principles to improve quality, enhance safety, reduce errors, and ultimately improve outcomes. His research addresses the following: cognitive workload and clinician productivity, resilience engineering, built environments design, socio-technical interruptions, team dynamics and health equity. He leverages innovative methodologies for
investigating cognitive engineering challenges including the use of wearable technologies, artificial intelligence, and biosensors.
Dr. Blocker has received numerous awards/recognitions and was selected as an inaugural fellow of the AcademyHealth’s Delivery System Science Fellowship and was selected by MENTOR:
The National Mentoring Partnership as a 2019 Finalist for the Excellence in Mentoring Impactful Philanthropy Award. In addition, he has been recognized as both a National Science Foundation
Fellow and National Institute of Health Fellow.
Dr. Blocker has engaged in research with several medical centers including the University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital, Marshfield Clinic (WI), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA), and Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden). His collaborative research agenda has been funded by agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical & Translational Science Award (CTSA), the Department of Defense: Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) and the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Blocker has conducted research across multiple healthcare settings, including cardiovascular, family medicine, emergency medicine, gynecology, and orthopedic surgeries. He has served on
numerous dissertation committees, mentored students and post-doctoral trainees, and served on review committees for grant proposals and scientific manuscripts. His work has been published
in leading peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Health Environments Research & Design Journal, and Human Factors. He has also presented
his research at regional, national, and international conferences.