About me
Dr. Renaldo Blocker Brief Bio
Dr. Renaldo Blocker is a Consultant in the Division of Health Care Delivery Research in the Mayo Clinic Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery and is an Associate Professor of Healthcare Systems Engineering Program. Dr. Blocker is the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Honored Investigator in the Science of Health Care Delivery. He is also the Scientific Director for Kern Center Diversity Science Program.
He is also the CEO/Co-Founder of the “Why You?” Initiative, Inc.—a longitudinal support and mentoring organization that has successfully assisted over 1,200 underrepresented high school, undergraduate, graduate, and young professionals with their academic and professional endeavors. Dr. Blocker has served on numerous external boards and committed devoted to addressing diversity challenges including the University of Minnesota Health CORE Advisory Board and We Impact, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN). Dr. Blocker served as the Associate Scientific Director of the Mayo Clinic’s Emergency Department Clinical Engineering Laboratory (ED-CEL). He was an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Polytechnic School in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University.
He received his Ph.D and Master’s from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Industrial and Systems Engineering with a concentration in Human Factors and Ergonomics (Cognitive). He received his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Albany State University (Albany, GA) and attended a San Francisco State University (San Francisco, CA) for a Master’s in Computer Science. His research focuses broadly on evaluating complex healthcare systems utilizing cognitive engineering and/or neuroergonomic principles and methodologies to improve quality, reduce errors, and ultimately improve outcomes. His research addresses cognitive workload on clinician productivity, socio-technical interruptions, team dynamics or processes, resilience engineering and, most recently, diversity science. He utilizes various methods for investigating cognitive burden including the use of wearable technologies and/or biosensors.
He 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 was 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, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. 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 addressed and/or conducted research across multiple healthcare sittings including cardiovascular, family medicine, emergency medicine, gynecology, and orthopedics surgeries. He has served on numerous dissertation committees, mentored students and post-doctoral trainees and served on review committees for grants and publications. He has published several peer-reviewed journals with collaborators and other leaders in the field in journals such as the Journal of the American College of Surgeons and in Human Factors. Dr. Blocker has presented his research at local, national, and international conferences.
