Kristen Honey, PhD PMP

Kristen Honey, PhD PMP is the Chief Data Scientist and leads the team advancing “InnovationX” in the Office of Science and Medicine. Her team tackles complex challenges by harnessing the power of open data, open science, open source, open innovation―prizes, community science, crowdsourcing, challenges―and public-private partnerships for health. Priorities include improving the community’s experiences with government services using the novel HHS Health+™ (pronounced “health plus”) human-centered design program and customer experience (CX) methods. Partnerships include CancerX for the Cancer Moonshot, LymeX Innovation Accelerator, KidneyX Innovation Accelerator, and COVID-19 PandemicX Accelerator.

Prior to joining HHS, Dr. Honey served in the White House Office of Science and Technology, advising the U.S. Chief Technology Officer from 2015–2017. She also worked in the White House Office of Management and Budget, advising the Federal Chief Information Officer from 2017–2018. At HHS, Dr. Honey established the HHS Office of the Chief Data officer, led the COVID-19 At-Anywhere Diagnostics Design-a-Thon, TOPx Tech Sprint, and the PandemicX Innovation Accelerator. Dr. Honey earned her Ph.D. at Stanford University in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER) with depth areas in biology and economics, plus a Ph.D. Minor in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Given her expertise in complex, adaptive systems and passion for data, she thrives on “wicked problems” that demand interdisciplinary problem solving. She also holds an M.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology with Honors from Stanford University. Dr. Honey is a proud “Maineiac” originally from Portland, Maine, and the small town of Long Island in Casco Bay, Maine.