Founder and CEO · Axius SDC, Inc.

Timothy W. Cook

MSc Health Informatics, University of Central Lancashire. BSc Engineering Technology. US Marine Corps, retired Master Sergeant. Creator of MLHIM, S3Model and SDC.

Current Position

  • Founder & CEO, Axius SDC, Inc.

    2025 – Present

    Leading the development and commercialization of the Semantic Data Charter (SDC), the deterministic data substrate for the era of autonomous machine processing. SDC provides standards-based, structurally governed data models that eliminate custom ETL code and enable seamless information exchange across all industries — infrastructure that was engineered for the world AI agents are now revealing.

    Key Achievements:

    Published SDC specification (2024) - fourth major version preserving complete version history from MLHIM (2009)

    Developed SDCStudio platform leveraging AI coding agents to overcome traditional development team financing barriers

    Rebranded from S3Model to Semantic Data Charter to avoid Amazon S3 naming confusion while maintaining technical lineage

    Grounded in 20+ international standards (W3C, OASIS, OMG, ISO, IETF, IANA) so models, schemas and receipts stay independently valid and re-derivable without the vendor

    Published open source sdcvalidator library on PyPI for community adoption

    Fully bootstrapped with $8M+ in R&D investment over 25+ years

  • Education

  • Master of Science (w/Merit) in Health Informatics

    University of Central Lancashire, UK

    June 2006
    • Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology

      January 1995

    Professional Certificates & Courses

    • Introduction to Data Science2014
    • R Programming2014
    • Digital Sound Design (w/Distinction)2013
    • Research Methods (audit)2005
    • TQM Coach Certification1995
    • Government Contract Negotiations1994

    Military Professional Education (USMC)

    20+ years of technical and leadership training including:

    • Information Systems Management • Advanced Communications Systems • Air Traffic Control Systems • Cryptographic Materials Management • Professional Communications • Advanced Administration

    Research Experience

  • International Collaborator

    11/2009 – 8/2019

    National Institute of Science and Technology – Medicine Assisted by Scientific Computing (INCT-MACC), Brazil

    INCT-MACC 'Multilevel Healthcare Information Modeling' Laboratory

  • Multi-Level Health Information Management (MLHIM)

    10/2009 – 5/2015

    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.

    Epidemiological Surveillance Support System

    2012

    Project manager for a decision support system to improve treatment and reporting of public health issues. Based on MLHIM specifications for semantic interoperability.

    Pre-Hospital Information Support System

    2010

    Project manager for a decision support system to improve pre-hospital care. Based on MLHIM specifications for semantic interoperability.

    Open Source Health Information Platform (OSHIP)

    2014

    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
      • Canadian College of Health Informatics – Consulted on design and performed research for final report
      • Evidence-based Guidelines And Decision Support System (EGADSS) – Open source development leadership and initial design architecture
      • Purpose-Driven Facilities – Environmental scan and qualitative analysis for Fraser Health Authority, BC
      • EMR Toolkit – Qualitative analysis using ATLAS.ti for Health Canada
      • iKnow – Technical assistance in decision support system design for patient monitoring in anesthesiology

    Industry Experience

  • Founder & CEO, Axius SDC

    2025 – Present

    Building SDCStudio platform and advancing Semantic Data Charter adoption across enterprise markets.

    • Grant Recipient - MLHIM to S3Model Transition

      2014 – 2018

      Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), Brazil

      Expanding semantic modeling framework beyond healthcare to cross-domain applications

    • Grant Recipient - MLHIM Development

      9/2014 – 10/2016

      FAPERJ (Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation), Brazil

    • Collaborator, IHTSDO

      4/2011 – Present

      International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization

      Member: Information Model Task Force, Machine & Human Readable Concept Model Project

    • Visiting Researcher

      3/2008 – 3/2011

      Fluminense Federal University (UFF), Brazil

      Health Informatics Decision Support, Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

    • Honorary Research Assistant

      12/2007 – 12/2010

      University College London, UK

      Centre for Health Informatics and Multi-professional Education

    • Independent Health Informatics Consultant

      8/2006 – 1/2009

      Timothy Cook Research & Consulting, LLC

    • Chief Operating Officer

      6/2005 – 8/2006

      CHASE Health Informatics, Inc., Edmonton, AB, Canada

    • Expert Consultant

      1/2005 – 11/2005

      PATH Group, University of Victoria; Fraser Health Authority; Health Canada

      Healthcare decision support and data modeling

    • Member, Architecture Review Board

      4/2004 – 4/2009

      openEHR Foundation

    • President, Open Paradigms, LLC

      6/2002 – 12/2004

      Independent consulting and software development

    • President & CTO, Free Practice Management, Inc.

      1/2000 – 6/2002

      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.

    • Information Systems Operations Manager

      11/1997 – 1/2000

      Baptist Hospitals Memphis, TN

      Managed IT operations for Union City hospital. Developed FreePM open source EMR system during this period.

    • U.S. Marine Corps, Master Sergeant (Retired)

      11/1975 – 4/1997

      20+ years of service specializing in advanced electronics systems, air traffic control systems, and computer systems management

      Awards: Navy Marine Corps Achievement Award, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Award (3), National Defense Medal, Navy Meritorious Unit Citation (2)

    Peer-Reviewed Publications

    Menezes PM, Cook TW, Cavalini LT (2016) Convergence of Health Level Seven Version 2 messages to semantic web technologies. Healthcare Informatics Research

    Luz MP, Nogueira JRM, Cook TW, Cavalini LT (2015) Providing full semantic interoperability for the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources schemas with Resource Description Framework. 2015 International Conference on Healthcare Informatics (IEEE ICHI)

    Cavalini LT, Cook TW (2015) Semantic interoperability of controlled vocabularies in medicine. Computers in Industry

    Nogueira JRM, Cook TW, Cavalini LT (2015) Mapping a Nursing Terminology Subset to openEHR Archetypes. Methods of Information in Medicine

    Nogueira JRM, de Oliveira Ahiadzro NCL, Cook TW, Cavalini LT (2015) Knowledge management of controlled vocabularies for semantic interoperability. 2015 International Conference on Healthcare Informatics (IEEE ICHI)

    Cavalini LT, Cook TW (2015) Clinical decision support systems and advanced diagnostic imaging. JAMA

    Cavalini LT, Cook TW (2014) A Multilevel-Model Driven Social Network for Healthcare Information Exchange. Proceedings of the 25th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media (HT)

    Cavalini LT, Cook TW (2013) Use of XML Schema Definition for the development of semantically interoperable healthcare applications. International Symposium on Foundations of Health Information Engineering and Systems (FHIES)

    Cavalini LT, de Oliveira Ahiadzro NCL, Cook TW (2013) Os registros eletrônicos em saúde e seus potenciais impactos no campo da Saúde Pública. Jornal Brasileiro de TeleSSaúde

    Nogueira JRM, Cook TW, Cavalini LT (2013) Estudo de caso sobre o uso da modelagem multinível. Jornal Brasileiro de TeleSSaúde

    Cavalini LT, Cook TW (2012) Knowledge engineering of healthcare applications based on minimalist multilevel models. 2012 IEEE 14th International Conference on e-Health Networking, Applications and Services (Healthcom)

    Cavalini LT, Cook TW (2012) Implementing a specification for exceptional data in multilevel modeling. ACM SIGHIT Record

    Alvernaz C, Cook TW, Cavalini LT (2012) Migration of a pre-hospital cardiology emergency system. ACM SIGHIT Record

    Cavalini LT, Cook TW (2012) Sistemas de informação em saúde: a importância do software livre. Jornal Brasileiro de TeleSSaúde

    Cavalini LT, Cook TW (2012) Engenharia do conhecimento de sistemas de informação em saúde. Jornal Brasileiro de TeleSSaúde

    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. XI Workshop of Medical Informatics, XXXI Congress of the Brazilian Computer Society

    Nogueira JRM, Cook TW, Cavalini LT (2011) Modeling methodology of interoperable information systems for nursing care. 5th Brazilian and International Congress on Telemedicine and 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. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. Amsterdam: IOS Press, v.160. p.1469

    Ratamero EM, Cavalini LT, Cook TW, Saade DCM (2010) Modeling magnetic resonance clinical reports of the lumbar spine using openEHR archetypes. XII Brazilian Congress on Health Informatics

    Cook TW (2009) "Where the Context Lies" Point paper on why standard data modeling approaches do not work in complex domains such as healthcare information systems design.

    Cook TW (2006) "Contextual Persistence in Complex Information Systems: An analysis of storing and retrieving information in an electronic health record." M.Sc. Thesis, University of Central Lancashire, Lancashire School of Health and Medicine. Supervisor: Dr. Jean Roberts. [PDF]

    Ellis NT, Pepper DR, Cook TW, Houwink P, Jain N, Bainbridge M (2002) "Open Source & International Health Informatics: Placebo or Panacea?" Informatics in Primary Care, Volume 10 Number 1

    Books & Invited Contributions

    Cook TW (2026) Foreword. In: Zhao X (Yasen), Mastering Ontology Engineering with Protégé and Pizza.owl: From Semantic Foundations to Executable Knowledge Architecture (EKA). Leanpub. [link]

    Cook TW (2005) "Open Source" Book Chapter in "Computerization And Going Paperless in Canadian Primary Care" Shaw, N.T. Radcliffe Medical Press; ISBN: 1857756231

    Preprints & Working Papers

    Abby A, Cook TW (2026) Constraint-State Evidence and Governed Execution: Integrating MTCP and sdcgovernance at the AI Deployment Boundary. OSF. doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/DXGK5 [DOI]

    Selected Conference & Workshop Presentations

    2010

    Short Course on openEHR, 1st Workshop of Scientific Computing on Health Applications, Petrópolis, Brazil

    2009

    WHO SDMX-HD Workshop, Geneva, Switzerland - Implications of Multi-Level Modelling

    2008

    openEHR/OSHIP workshop (1.5 days), IEA World Congress, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    2007

    WHO Global Health Data Standards Workshop, Nairobi, Kenya - Vocabulary Management

    2004

    MEDINFO San Francisco - Panel Moderator, Open Source Application Success

    2004

    WONCA Orlando - Does FOSS Really Mean Free for GP Computerization?

    2001

    AMIA Washington DC - Panel Member, Open Source Software in Healthcare

    2000

    AMIA Los Angeles - Tutorial, Web-based EMR Demonstration

    Awards & Recognition

    Professional

    • 2001 Linux Medical News Open Source Achievement Award

    Military Service

    • Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal
    • Marine Corps Good Conduct Award (3 Awards)
    • Navy Meritorious Unit Citation (2 Awards)
    • National Defense Medal

    Professional Affiliations

    Current

      • • UK Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP) Registrant #466
      • • Citizens Foster Care Review Board (Court-appointed)
      • • Chair, City of Fulton, KY Planning & Zoning Commission
      • • Member, City of Fulton, KY Board of Adjustments

    Former

      • • CCHIT Advanced Interoperability Working Group
      • • Co-Founder, PATH Research Group
      • • Architecture Review Board, openEHR Foundation
      • • Organizing Chair, AMIA Open Source Working Group
      • • Co-founder, Open Source Health Care Alliance (OSHCA)
      • • IMIA Open Source Working Group