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Christopher M. Horvat, MD, MHA

  • Associate Professor of Critical Care Medicine, Pediatrics, Biomedical Informatics, and Clinical & Translational Sciences
  • Senior Director, Clinical Informatics, UPMC ICU Service Center and the University of Pittsburgh Department of Critical Care Medicine
  • Director, Medical Emergency Response Teams, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
  • Associate Program Director, UPMC Clinical Informatics Fellowship
  • Associate Director, Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Horvat is a board-certified pediatric intensivist and clinical informatician with expertise in quality improvement, clinical research, care standardization, and learning health systems. As Senior Director of Clinical Informatics, he leads enterprise-wide operational and research initiatives across UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh, leveraging data-driven strategies to improve patient outcomes. In 2017, he co-founded the Sepsis Task Force at UPMC Children’s Hospital, an initiative that significantly improved sepsis outcomes and evolved into the enterprise-wide UPMC Pediatric Sepsis Collaborative. In 2022, Dr. Horvat helped to launch the UPMC Clinical Informatics Fellowship, advancing the next generation of physician informaticians. Nationally and internationally recognized for integrating clinical informatics with performance improvement, he has authored over 160 peer-reviewed publications and is a frequent contributor to multicenter research, large scale quality improvement programs, and digital health innovation. 

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships​

  • Society of Critical Care Medicine, 2013–Present 

Education & Training

  • BS, Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006
  • MD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2010
  • MHA, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, 2017
  • Residency in General Pediatrics, University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals, 2010-2013
  • Fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2013-2016
  • T-32 Fellowship in Pediatric Neurocritical Care, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2015-2017
  • MSIT, Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College, 2025

Selected Publications

Horvat CM, Klug J, Li R, Raffa J, Pollard T, Celi L, Plovock M, Emanuele K, Garver M, Hochheiser H, Clark R, Sackrowitz R, Angus D, Donadee C, Boeltz A; UPMC ICU Service Center Analytics Team. Early Use of a Risk-Adjusted Mechanical Ventilation Digital Quality Measure Bundle in a Large Health System. Crit Care Med. 2025 Jun 12. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40504884.

Taylor WM, Pelletier J, Heneghan JA, Ramgopal S, Toth KM, Prout A, Woeltje M, Butler G, Fabio A, Evans I, Brilli R, Kochanek PK, Clark RSB, Horvat CM. Pediatric Intensive Care Nurse Staffing Measures and Patient Outcomes During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Jun 2;8(6):e2515376. PMID: 40504525.

Horvat CM, Barda AJ, Perez Claudio E, Au AK, Bauman A, Li Q, Li R, Munjal N, Wainwright MS, Boonchalermvichien T, Hochheiser H, Clark RSB. Interoperable Models for Identifying Critically Ill Children at Risk of Neurologic Morbidity. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Feb 3;8(2):e2457469. PMID: 39903466.

Horvat CM, Hamilton MF, Hall MW, McGuire JK, Mink RB. Child Health Needs and the Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Workforce: 2020-2040. Pediatrics. 2024 Feb 1;153(Suppl 2):e2023063678G. PMID: 38300003.

REMAP-CAP Investigators (incl Horvat CM). Interleukin-6 Receptor Antagonists in Critically Ill Patients with Covid-19. N Engl J Med. 2021 Apr 22;384(16):1491–1502. PMCID: PMC7953461

Full Publication List via NIH PubMed »

Research Grants

R01NS118716 Bio-Digital Rapid Alert to Identify Neuromorbidity, 2021, NINDS

1K23HD098328, A Learning Healthy System Approach to Precision Sedation and Analgesia in Critically Ill Children, 2020, NICHD