The West Wireless Health Institute has added another former Johnson & Johnson executive to its ranks: Dr. Joseph Smith has joined the WWHI as its new Chief Medical Officer. Smith was the vice president of emerging technologies for Johnson and Johnson in the Corporate Office of Science and Technology. Dr. Eric Topol, the Institute's first Chief Medical Officer will now serve as Institute's vice chairman of the board and Chief Innovation Officer. Topol will continue to work to identify medical research opportunities and activities, according to a release from the Institute. WWHI CEO Don Casey hinted about Smith's appointment in an interview with MobiHealthNews two weeks ago.

"I believe the Institute's focus on infrastructure-independent health care, which is about delivering the right care at the right time, wherever the patient may be, is spot on," Smith said in a statement. "With that idea in mind, it is exciting to know that in this role I will have a direct impact on moving emerging technologies quickly into the hands of patients, doctors and health care organizations, and in turn will help establish a more cost-effective health care delivery system."

Smith's appointment follows the WWHI's recent appointment of Donald Casey as CEO. Casey previously served as Johnson & Johnson's worldwide chairman for the company's comprehensive care group. (Revisit our recent interview with Casey here.)

Here's Smith's extended bio as provided by WWHI:

"Prior to Johnson and Johnson, Smith was senior vice president and chief medical officer of Guidant / Boston Scientific, Cardiac Rhythm Management. His clinical and academic experience includes positions at the School of Medicine and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University, St. Louis. He also founded the Arrhythmia Institute in Fairfax, Virginia, a center of excellence in clinical cardiac electrophysiology. He has published in the areas of cardiac electrophysiology, has been a consultant to a great many small companies involved in the advancement of innovative medical technologies, and holds a number of patents in the area of signal processing and catheter and defibrillator design. Smith is also an advisor to a variety of academic and medical organizations including Boston University, Case Western University, University of Miami, Children's Hospital in Boston, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology, and The Johns Hopkins University."

For more, see the press release here