Christopher R. Cogle, M.D. is a tenured professor at the University of Florida, Chief Medical Officer of Florida Medicaid, and Founding Director of the Florida Health Policy Leadership Academy at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service.
Dr. Cogle earned his medical degree through an accelerated Medical Honors Program at the University of Florida. Clinically, he specialized in internal medicine and subspecialized in medical oncology at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He then completed post-doctoral training in stem cell biology and blood & marrow transplantation at Duke University.
In 2004, Dr. Cogle was recruited to the faculty at University of Florida to create a translational research program in malignant hematology. Dr. Cogle led a research team credited with several major discoveries and inventions including:
Discovered that hematopoietic stem cells make brain cells in humans (Lancet 2004);
Discovered that blood vessels are sanctuary sites for blood cancers and lead to relapsed cancer (Leukemia 2014);
Discovered that myocardial infarctions poison the bone marrow through inflammatory cytokine signaling and prevent hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells from repairing the heart (Circulation Research 2014);
Invented and patented new drug classes to treat cancer patients;
Invented and patented a new method of using an oncolytic virus (myxoma virus) to fight cancers and prevent graft versus host disease (Leukemia 2009, Blood 2015);
Invented two new methods to accurately count cancer cases by cancer registries (Blood 2011, Leukemia Research 2014); and
Developed a new computational biology and digital drug simulation method of interpreting the hundreds of DNA mutations inside a cancer cell to tailor treatment for cancer patients (Leukemia Research 2017, Blood Cancer Journal 2019).
Dr. Cogle is inventor on five patents, has published over 140 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals, written in three textbooks, and given over 300 invited presentations. He is Associate Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Healthcare.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has distinguished Dr. Cogle as a Scholar in Clinical Research. The MDS International Foundation has designated Dr. Cogle's clinic a Center of Excellence in the Myelodysplastic Syndromes.
In teaching, Dr. Cogle has trained over 70 mentees who serve on faculty and in industry throughout the world. Dr. Cogle has invented new methods of teaching, such as wet lab retreats for teaching clinical laboratory skills to physicians in training, virtual online clinics for teaching critical thinking to medical students, and team-based learning for building a new workforce for personalized medicine and precision health (BMC Medical Education 2021). Dr. Cogle is an experienced public speaker and has delivered over 300 lectures and presentations to a variety of audiences. His presentations have made significant impact on population health, such as reducing vaccine hesitancy and increasing vaccine enthusiasm (Healthcare 2021).
Writing and storytelling fascinate Dr. Cogle. He directs two literature courses to undergraduate honors students at the University of Florida: Physician Writers in the Post-Modern Era, and Literature, Illness, and the Outwardly Healthy Reader.
Civic engagement and preparing youth for the future are a priority to Dr. Cogle. He is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor of the Order of the Arrow. Dr. Cogle serves as Cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 416, and Assistant Scoutmaster for Scout Troop 432 and Troop 9432, where his sons and daughters share in the adventures and lifelong lessons of Scouting.
In 2021, Dr. Cogle founded the Florida Health Policy Leadership Academy at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service to train elected officials and community leaders in population health. Dr. Cogle also leads Town Hall meetings throughout Florida in collaboration with non-profit health councils and area health education centers to engage community leaders and the public in shaping laws, policies, and programs that improve their population health and healthcare.
Dr. Cogle is a leader in organized medicine at the local, state, and national levels. In his early career, he served as the elected Chairperson of the Medical Student Sections (MSS) and Resident Physicians Sections (RPS) of the Florida Medical Association (FMA) and the American Medical Association (AMA). Dr. Cogle is a Past-President of the Alachua County Medical Society (ACMS). Since 2012, he has served on the FMA Council on Medical Education, Science and Health Policy, where he evaluates FMA policy and assists in the direction of the Association's physician education programs at annual meetings. He was a founding member of the American Society Hematology Trainee Council and its first Chairperson. Later in his career, Dr. Cogle served on two Scientific Committees of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). Dr. Cogle has also served as an ex officio member of the National Cancer Policy Forum of the National Academy of Medicine, where he led and participated in national workshops on pressing issues in health and medicine, such as the use of computers in diagnosing and treating patients with cancer.
Dr. Cogle is the Florida Senate President's appointee to the Florida Cancer Control and Research Advisory Council (CCRAB), which he led as elected Chairperson from 2016-2020. As Chairperson, he led the State of Florida in cancer planning, coordinated the activities of Florida’s cancer control organizations, and implemented the state cancer plan. His research was translated into new state policy by adapting the Florida cancer registry to count cancer cases using a billing claims method (Cancer Causes and Control 2021). In 2020, he was appointed Co-Chair of the Florida State Health Improvement Plan Priority Area Workgroup on Chronic Diseases. In this role, he co-leads consensus-building among organizations advocating for all people with chronic diseases such as heart diseases, cancer, lung diseases, diabetes, stroke, and kidney diseases.
In 2020, Dr. Cogle was selected by the National Academy of Medicine as an Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine Scholar. During this fellowship he transitioned from a physician-scientist focused on translating laboratory discoveries into the clinic to a physician-executive focused on changing state health and health care policies to improve patient access and utilization of health care technologies. Dr. Cogle invented new financial instruments to incentivize physicians and payers towards better patient health outcomes. In 2021, his team was awarded a Spotlight Award by the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD).
In 2023, Dr. Cogle was named a Milbank Fellow by the Milbank Memorial Fund. In this fellowship he is focusing his time on scaling his state health policy successes to national implementations.
Dr. Cogle founded two startup companies to translate his discoveries into action. In 2016, the Harvard Business School distinguished one of Dr. Cogle's startup companies as a prized winner of its Precision Trials Challenge. In 2020, Dr. Cogle founded the non-profit, Songs of Color Foundation, to bridge gaps in health and criminal justice.