Current Position
2025 – Present – Founder & CEO, Axius SDC
Building the integrity layer for AI and autonomous agents. The Semantic Data Charter (SDC) is an open specification (Apache 2.0) for creating self-describing, constraint-enforcing data models. SDC compiles enterprise authority into W3C restriction lattices, eliminating the need for compensatory architecture (knowledge graphs, RAG pipelines, mapping tables). The production platform, SDCStudio, serves healthcare, government, industrial, and financial domains.
Key Achievements:
- Published SDC4 specification -- fourth major version preserving complete version history from MLHIM (2009)
- Built SDCStudio production platform: React SPA + Django + PostgreSQL (pgvector) + GraphDB + Celery, deployed on Google Cloud Run
- Developed SDC_Agents: 8 purpose-scoped AI agent toolsets (32 tools) on Google ADK for automated data governance
- Shipped FAIR Data Demo: 567 reusable components across 3 federal health studies (NHANES, BRFSS, CMS) at $72.40 total cost
- SDCStudio Sovereign: air-gapped deployment with Nuitka source protection and ECDSA license enforcement
- Endorsed by Christopher Steven Marcum, PhD (Former Assistant Director, White House OSTP): "Probably the most clear documentation of a reference data model that I've ever seen"
- Built on 17+ international standards (W3C, ISO, IETF) with BFO 2020 upper ontology alignment
- 165+ academic citations, 12+ peer-reviewed publications (AMIA, JCI, JAMA, IEEE/ACM)
- Fully bootstrapped -- incorporated October 2025
Education
- 9/2014 - Introduction to Data Science, University of Washington
- 4/2014 - R Programming, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School Of Public Health
- 3/2013 – Certificate (w/Distinction) Introduction to Digital Sound Design, Emory University
- 6/2006 – Master of Science (w/Merit) in Health Informatics
- 1/2005 – Letter of Attendance in Research Methods Course (audit)
- 6/1995 – Certified Total Quality Management Coach
- 1/1995 – Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology
- 2/1994 – Certificate in Government Contract Negotiations
- 6/1992 – Certificate in Professional Communications
- 9/1991 – Certificate in Tactical Communications
- 4/1991 – Certificate in Advanced Administration
- 5/1990 – Certificate in Cryptographic Materials Management
- 2/1990 – Certificate in US History and USMC Customs
- 11/1989 – Certificate in Physical Training Management
- 1/1988 – Certificate in Information Systems Management
- 2/1986 – Certificate in Advanced Air Traffic Controls Systems Management
- 3/1979 – Certificate in Advanced Communications Systems Management
- 7/1977 – Certificate in Aviation Communications Systems Repair
- 6/1976 – High School Diploma – Industrial Electrical and Control Systems
Awards
- 2025 Kentucky League of Cities -- Level I Achievement in City Governance
- 2001 Linux Medical News Open Source Achievement Award
- Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal
- Marine Corps Good Conduct Award (3 Awards)
- Organized Marine Corps Reserve Medal (2 Awards)
- National Defense Medal
- Navy Meritorious Unit Citation (2 Awards)
Research Experience
11/2009 – 8/2019 – National Institute of Science and Technology – Medicine Assisted by Scientific Computing (INCT-MACC)
International Collaborator at the INCT-MACC 'Multilevel Healthcare Information Modeling' Laboratory. Key projects:
10/2009 – 5/2015 - Multi-Level Health Information Management (MLHIM)
Developed specifications and software implementations for constraint-based, semantically interoperable health information systems. This foundational work evolved into S3Model and ultimately the Semantic Data Charter.
2012 - Epidemiological Surveillance Support System
Project manager for a decision support system to improve treatment and reporting of public health issues. Based on MLHIM specifications for semantic interoperability.
2010 - Pre-Hospital Information Support System
Project manager for a decision support system to improve pre-hospital care. Based on MLHIM specifications for semantic interoperability.
2014 - Open Source Health Information Platform (OSHIP)
Project manager and lead developer creating a Python language-based implementation of MLHIM specifications. Designed to provide an easy entry point for application developers basing their health information systems on MLHIM.
Additional Research Projects
- Informatics: Enhancing the Clinical Experience – Consulted on project design. pathgroup.ca/Research_Studies/Current/ICE
- Canadian College of Health Informatics – Consulted on design and performed research to develop the final report. pathgroup.ca/Research_Studies/Completed/CANCHI
- Evidence-based Guidelines And Decision Support System (EGADSS) – Provided open source development leadership and initial design architecture. egadss.org
- Purpose-Driven Facilities – Provided environmental scan and qualitative analysis of international comparisons of generalized vs. specialized hospitals for Fraser Health Authority, British Columbia, Canada.
- EMR Toolkit – Provided qualitative analysis using ATLAS.ti of transcripts during development. Developed by Grey Martin & Assoc. under contract with Health Canada. emrtoolkit.ca
- iKnow – Provided technical assistance in design of iKnow decision support system for patient monitoring in anesthesiology.
Industry Experience
2025 – Present – Founder & CEO, Axius SDC
Production platform and sovereign deployments for enterprise semantic data governance. See Current Position section above.
2014 – 2018 - Rio de Janeiro State University, UERJ, Brazil
Grant recipient for transition of MLHIM to S3Model, expanding semantic modeling framework beyond healthcare to cross-domain applications.
9/2014 – 10/2016 - Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support of the State of RJ, FAPERJ, Brazil
Grant recipient for development of the Multi-Level Health Information Model.
4/2011 – Present – Collaborator, International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization (IHTSDO)
Member of Information Model Task Force and Machine & Human Readable Concept Model Project.
2/2009 – 12/2009 - Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT)
Member of The Advanced Interoperability Working Group.
3/2009 – 12/2009 - American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Member of The Health Information Technology Working Group.
6/2009 – 7/2019 – International Collaborator, National Institute of Science and Technology - Medicine Assisted by Scientific Computing (INCT-MACC)
Long-term international collaboration on semantic health informatics research.
3/2008 – 3/2011 – Visiting Researcher, Fluminense Federal University, Brazil
Health Informatics Decision Support, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Community Health. Organized first Workshop on Open Source Health Informatics Projects in Niterói (2008).
12/2007 – 12/2010 – Honorary Research Assistant, University College London
Centre for Health Informatics and Multi-professional Education, London, England, UK.
8/2006 – 1/2009 – Timothy Cook Research & Consulting, LLC
Independent health informatics consulting practice.
6/2005 – 8/2006 – COO, CHASE Health Informatics, Inc. Edmonton, AB
Chief Operating Officer for health informatics company.
1/2005 – 6/2005 - Independent Health Informatics Consultant, Richmond, BC
Consulting on healthcare decision support and data modeling projects.
1/2005 – 10/2005 – Expert Consultant, PATH Group, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC
Healthcare Decision Support consulting.
6/2005 – 11/2005 – Consultant, Fraser Health Authority, BC
Healthcare systems consulting.
1/2005 – 10/2005 – Consultant, Health Canada
Healthcare data modeling consulting.
4/2004 – 4/2009 – Member, openEHR Foundation Architecture Review Board
Contributed to open source electronic health record architecture development.
1/2004 – 1/2008 - Consultant, Gerson Lehrman Council of Advisors
Expert advisory consulting.
6/2002 – 12/2004 – President, Open Paradigms, LLC, South Fulton, TN
Independent consulting and software development.
1/2000 – 6/2002 – President & CTO, Free Practice Management, Inc. Miami, FL
Co-founded Open Source Healthcare Alliance (OSHCA). Developed FreePM open source practice management system. Refused premature deployment pressured by investors, prioritizing patient safety over financial gain.
11/1997 – 1/2000 – Information Systems Operations Manager, Baptist Hospitals Memphis, TN
Managed IT operations for Union City hospital. Developed FreePM open source EMR system during this period.
4/1997 – 11/1997 – Control Systems Maintenance, SGL Carbon, Hickman, KY
Managed information and control systems for manufacturing facility.
11/1975 – 4/1997 – U.S. Marine Corps, Master Sergeant (Retired)
20+ years of service specializing in advanced electronics systems, air traffic control systems, and computer systems management. Achieved Navy Marine Corps Achievement Award for innovation in mainframe-to-PC integration. Promoted to Master Sergeant (E-8) in 1994.
(In parallel to military career, operated several businesses and part-time positions)
Entrepreneurial Ventures (Parallel to USMC Career)
- 6/1990 – 1/2000 – Independent Information Systems consultant to various industries and small businesses
- 5/1988 – 6/1990 – President, ClipCASE, Inc. San Francisco, CA (CASE tool for Clipper developers)
- 6/1980 – 6/1983 – President, Sigma Technologies, Virginia Beach, VA
- 12/1983 – 9/1984 – Engineering Tech, Gould Defense Engineering Labs, Baltimore, MD
- 11/1979 – 6/1980 – Hardware technical consultant to midrange computer companies in Washington, DC area
- 4/1976 – 11/1979 – Audio/video technician (various TV/Stereo shops in 29 Palms, CA; Dale City, VA; Virginia Beach, VA)
Peer-Reviewed Publications
- Dias RDM, Cook TW, Freire SM (2011) Modeling healthcare authorization and claim submissions using the openEHR dual-model approach. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 11:60. doi:10.1186/1472-6947-11-60
- Cavalini LT, Cook TW (2011) Health informatics: the relevance of open source and multilevel modeling. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology 365: 338 – 347.
- Ferreira MMV, Cook TW, Cavalini LT (2011) Modeling dementia clinical and psychological concepts for computer-aided diagnosis. In: Annals of the XI Workshop of Medical Informatics at the XXXI Congress of the Brazilian Society of Computer Science.
- Nogueira JRM, Cook TW, Cavalini LT (2011) Modeling methodology of interoperable information systems for nursing care. In: Abstracts of the 5th Brazilian and International Congress on Telemedicine e Telehealth.
- Cavalini LT, Freire SM, Cook TW (2010) Forward chaining inference vs. binary decision support in an electronic health record application based on archetyped data. In: Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. Amsterdam: IOS Press, v.160. p.1469 – 1469
- Ratamero EM, Cavalini LT, Cook TW, Saade DCM (2010) Modeling magnetic resonance clinical reports of the lumbar spine using openEHR archetypes. In: Annals of the XII Brazilian Congress on Health Informatics.
- "Where the Context Lies" (2009) Point paper on why standard data modeling approaches do not work in complex domains such as healthcare information systems design.
- "Contextual Persistence in Complex Information Systems: An analysis of storing and retrieving information in an electronic health record." (2006) Cook, T.W., M.Sc. Thesis, University of Central Lancashire, Lancashire School of Health and Medicine, Supervisor – Dr. Jean Roberts.
- "Open Source", Cook T.W., Book Chapter in "Computerization And Going Paperless in Canadian Primary Care" (2005) Shaw, N.T. Radcliffe Medical Press; ISBN: 1857756231
- "Open Source & International Health Informatics: Placebo or Panacea?" (2001) N T Ellis, D R Pepper, T W Cook, P Houwink, N Jain and M Bainbridge, Informatics in Primary Care, Volume 10 Number 1
Selected Conference/Workshop Presentations
- (2010) Short Course on openEHR, 1st Workshop of Scientific Computing on Health Applications, Petrópolis, Brazil (with Freire SM, Cavalini LT)
- (2010) Healthcare Knowledge Modelling Projects for Multilevel-Based Information Systems, VII Latino-American Open Source Conference, Iguassu Falls, Brazil (with Cavalini LT)
- (2009) Implications of Multi-Level Modelling in Interoperability of Healthcare IT Systems, World Health Organization SDMX-HD Workshop, Geneva, Switzerland
- (2009) Healthcare Information Models & Applications, 10th International Free Software Forum, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- (2008) Developer and leader, openEHR/OSHIP workshop (1.5 days), International Epidemiological Association World Congress, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- (2008) Workshop developer and leader, healthcare information interoperability, National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC), Petropolis RJ Brazil
- (2008) Interoperability with Health Information Systems, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Instituto de Computação, Niterói, RJ, Brasil
- (2007) Vocabulary Management in openEHR Archetypes, WHO Global Health Data Standards Workshop, Nairobi, Kenya
- (2006) Contextual Persistence in Complex Information Systems, Master's Thesis Presentation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada
- (2005) Economic Sustainability of Open Source in Healthcare Applications, Invited Presentation, University of British Columbia and Children and Women's Hospital Business Development Group, Vancouver, BC Canada
- (2004) Does Free and Open Source Software Really Mean Free for General Practice Computerization? Refereed Presentation, World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), Orlando, FL USA
- (2004) Open Source Application Success in Healthcare, Panel Moderator, 11th World Congress on Medical Informatics (MEDINFO), San Francisco, CA, USA
- (2004) Promoting Open Source Application Use in Primary Care, Presentation, 11th World Congress on Medical Informatics (MEDINFO), San Francisco, CA, USA
- (2004) Using an Open Source EMR, CPD Accredited Tutorial, American College of Physicians, New Orleans, LA, USA
- (2004) Introduction to an Open Source EMR, Refereed Presentation, American College of Physicians, New Orleans, LA USA
- (2002) Using RFID to Track Patients and Equipment in a Primary Care Clinic, Invited Presentation, Bedrock Clinical Investors Conference, Houston, TX USA
- (2002) The Dangers of Relational Database Vocabularies in Long Term EMR Usage, Invited Presentation, Fresno III Open Source Retreat, Fresno, CA, USA
- (2001) Integrating Relational Data Vocabulary in an Object Database EMR, Invited Presentation, Fresno II Open Source Retreat, Fresno, CA, USA
- (2001) Open Source Software in Healthcare, Panel Member, American Medical Informatics Assn., Washington, D.C. USA
- (2000) Using Web Protocols to Exchange Health Record Data, Invited Presentation, Fresno I Open Source Retreat, Fresno, CA USA
- (2000) Using Object Databases in Healthcare Applications, Invited Presentation, Fresno I Open Source Retreat, Fresno, CA USA
- (2000) Web-based EMR Demonstration, Tutorial, American Medical Informatics Assn., Los Angeles, CA USA
- (1999) Using Scripting Languages for Rapid, Web-based EMR Development, Invited Presentation, Minoru Development Corporation Open Source Retreat, Toronto, ON, Canada
Volunteer Affiliations
Current
- Court-appointed member – Citizens Foster Care Review Board
- Chair, City of Fulton, KY, Planning & Zoning Commission
- Member, City of Fulton, KY, Board of Adjustments
- Member, City of Fulton, KY, City (aka. "Banana") Ambassadors
- Member, United Kingdom Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP) Registrant #466
Former
- Member, Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) Advanced Interoperability Working Group
- Member and Co-Founder, Professional Assessment of Technology in Health (PATH) Research Group
- Member, British Columbia Health Informatics Management Professionals Society
- Member, Canada's Health Informatics Association (COACH)
- Member, Architecture Review Board, openEHR Foundation
- Member & Organizing Chair, American Medical Informatics Assn. Open Source Working Group
- Co-founder and Former Board Member, Open Source Health Care Alliance (OSHCA)
- Member, International Medical Informatics Assn. Open Source Working Group
- Obion County, Tennessee Red Cross Chapter Chairman
- Red Cross Emergency Response Volunteer (Certified)
- Boy Scouts of America (various leadership posts from Cub Leader to Chartered Organization Representative)
- Girl Scouts of America volunteer
- Certified Youth Sports Coach (baseball, soccer)