San Francisco Bay Area · Physician-Epidemiologist

Kushal NaikMD · MPH

Physician-epidemiologist building evidence and analytics products for healthcare decisions.

I work across real-world evidence, Medical Affairs analytics, safety epidemiology, and clinically grounded AI.

Kushal Naik, physician-epidemiologist and healthcare evidence leader
Clinical judgment. Epidemiologic rigor. Product thinking. ORCID ↗

Evidence that can survive scrutiny and still guide action.

I care about three things: whether the clinical logic makes sense, whether the analysis can hold up under scrutiny, and whether someone can actually use the result.

I have more than 10 years of experience across real-world evidence, pharmacoepidemiology, healthcare analytics, clinical research, and AI-enabled data products.

At ZS Associates, I lead cross-functional delivery, product strategy, and go-to-market for RWD- and AI-enabled healthcare analytics across biopharma and a national health plan. Previously, I led FDA- and CMS-facing pharmacoepidemiology and safety-surveillance studies using national Medicare-linked data. Earlier work spans pediatric registries, transplantation, oncology, neurology, and cardiovascular outcomes.

RWE strategy & generationPharmacoepidemiologyMedical Affairs analyticsDrug safetyHealthcare data productsPatient journeys & care gapsClaims & Medicare dataClinically grounded AI

A record built across care, evidence, and systems.

10+years across healthcare evidence and analytics
29publications and conference abstracts
360+Google Scholar citations
9Google Scholar h-index
12,000+patients represented in a pediatric epilepsy registry
Top 10%Peer Reviewer, JAMA Oncology, 2025

Bibliometric metrics current as of July 2026.

Problems, decisions, and systems that outlast the analysis.

Safety evidence

Evidence for consequential safety decisions

I led and contributed to claims-based pharmacoepidemiology using national Medicare-linked data. The work included research on denosumab-related severe hypocalcemia, published in Annals of Internal Medicine and associated with FDA safety communication and labeling action for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease.

Analytics products

Clinical logic translated into products people can use

I lead cross-functional work across care-gap intelligence, medication adherence, patient journeys, HCP/KOL networks, scientific-insight synthesis, and AI-enabled analytics. I translate clinical questions into product requirements, validation logic, reusable workflows, decision narratives, roadmap choices, and go-to-market materials.

Evidence strategy · Product development · Go-to-market
Clinical data systems

A registry designed around care, not only collection

I built and managed a pediatric epilepsy registry covering more than 12,000 patients, connecting structured Epic capture, outcomes reporting, research workflows, quality measurement, and clinical teams.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta · AAN research

Selected experience: ZS Associates · The SPHERE Institute · Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta · Emory University

Questions worth staying with.

01

How should clinical AI show its evidence and uncertainty?

My focus is evidence traceability, uncertainty, and auditability.

02

What makes an analytics product useful after the demonstration ends?

Useful products remain legible and relevant inside real workflows.

03

Where can real-world evidence change a decision earlier?

Earlier evidence can alter study design, field priorities, or safety questions.

Selected research

Professional service

  • Top 10% Peer Reviewer, JAMA Oncology2025
  • Peer reviewer for JAMA Oncology, JAMA, and Radiology Research and Practice
  • Invited reviewer for JNCI Cancer Spectrum and Transplantation
  • Invited to join the Editorial Review Board, Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety
  • SPLIT National Research Funding Award
  • SPLIT Travel Award

Education

  • Master of Public Health, EpidemiologyRollins School of Public Health, Emory University
  • Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of SurgerySeth G.S. Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai

A thoughtful conversation is a good place to begin.

Open to conversations about evidence strategy, healthcare analytics, Medical Affairs innovation, clinically grounded AI, and scientific collaboration.

Message on LinkedIn ↗