Thalamus Appoints Jeffrey S. Berns, MD, as Chief Academic Officer, Advancing its Mission in Medical Education Leadership as a Public Benefit Corporation

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — March 11, 2026 — Thalamus, the leading graduate medical education (GME) interview management and recruitment platform, today announced the appointment of Jeffrey S. Berns, MD, as its first Chief Academic Officer (CAO) effective September 1, 2026. Dr. Berns will begin advising the company in the coming months before transitioning into the full-time role later this year. A defining voice in institutional leadership and GME, Dr. Berns adds decades of experience at the highest levels of academic medicine to Thalamus’ executive team.

Dr. Berns is currently Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Director of Regulatory Affairs in the Department of Medicine and Associate Chief of the Renal, Electrolyte, and Hypertension Division at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the founding President of the National Association of Designated Institutional Officials (NADIO).

He has served in numerous senior roles at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the Perelman School of Medicine, including Vice President and Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and Designated Institutional Official (DIO). Dr. Berns also had a long tenure as a fellowship program director and has decades of experience across both undergraduate medical education (UME) and GME.

Dr. Berns has held leadership positions across the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), where he served as President, and multiple accreditation, quality, and policy bodies shaping the future of medical education and physician workforce development.

With this appointment, Thalamus, as a public benefit corporation (PBC), formally embeds the perspective of institutional academics within its leadership structure, marking a pivotal moment in its continued evolution as a technology platform with a deeply integrated strategic partnership with the AAMC, operating with institutional rigor across the medical education community.

“This is an inflection point for Thalamus,” said Jason Reminick, MD, MBA, MS, CEO and Founder. “For years, we have worked in collaboration with academic medicine organizations, specialty societies, program directors, coordinators, and institutional leaders, and with medical students, residents and fellows, to build infrastructure that reflects the realities of the UME to GME transition and beyond. Having Jeff Berns join our executive team is both a privilege and a milestone. His career embodies a commitment to the values that define medical education and the responsibilities institutions carry in training the next generation of physicians.”

As CAO, Dr. Berns will serve as the leader for Thalamus across the “House of Medicine.” He will guide Thalamus’ academic strategy, external engagement, and research agenda, while representing the company at national forums, policy working groups, and medical organization and specialty-society conferences.

Dr. Berns will also build and oversee two cornerstone initiatives: 1) A formal research institute advancing peer-reviewed scholarship, data-driven insights, and evidence-based innovation in medical education and recruitment, and 2) A national council of physician leaders, institutional advisors, and specialty leadership shaping product strategy, policy positioning, and thought leadership across specialties. Together, these efforts anchor Thalamus’ role not only as a technology leader, but also as a trusted academic contributor to the future of medical education. These initiatives will operate in alignment with existing accreditation standards, and applicable conflict-of-interest policies.

“I have spent most of my career working in the world of academic medicine and care deeply about its governance, its accountability, and its responsibility to trainees, faculty, educators and patients,” said Dr. Berns. “What drew me to Thalamus is the seriousness with which it approaches the complexity of academic medicine. This is an organization willing to listen to all constituents, from medical students and medical schools to residents and fellows, to program coordinators and directors, and to other GME and institutional leaders, and which grounds innovation in evidence, and strives to build technology that serves the mission of medical education. I’m excited to help shape what comes next.”

As Thalamus continues to evolve, Dr. Berns’ role ensures strong academic stewardship at the core of the company, supporting its expansion from program-level infrastructure to institution-wide engagement across the physician recruitment lifecycle. His leadership allows Thalamus to grow with credibility, continuity, resiliency and trust as it enters its next chapters.

“The most important technology companies of the next decade will be those that embed responsible governance, transparency and accountability at their core,” said Freada Kapor Klein, PhD, Founding Partner, Kapor Capital and board member at Thalamus. “By bringing Dr. Berns into executive leadership, Thalamus is proving that scale and stewardship can, and must, coexist. We are excited to see what Jason, Jeff and the entire Thalamus team can accomplish together.”

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About Thalamus

Thalamus is a public benefit corporation and the leading technology partner to graduate medical education (GME) programs and institutions nationwide. Trusted by more than 8,000 residency and fellowship programs across 800+ sponsoring institutions, Thalamus provides mission-aligned infrastructure that supports transparent, efficient, and data-informed recruitment across the physician training continuum.

Designed specifically for academic medicine, the Thalamus platform streamlines interview management, applicant engagement, mission-aligned recruitment, and analytics through a comprehensive, cloud-based system, Thalamus partners with institutional leaders to strengthen recruitment operations today while building durable infrastructure for the future physician workforce.

For more information on Thalamus, please visit https://thalamusgme.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), or YouTube.

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Media Contact

Sarah Nathan

sarah.nathan@thalamusgme.com

608-218-0070