Jonathan Ripp, MD, MPH, is Professor of Medicine, Medical Education and Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Dean for Well-Being and Resilience and Chief Wellness Officer at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS). He received both his undergraduate and medical degrees from Yale University and completed internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.  In the role of Chief Wellness Officer, Dr. Ripp oversees efforts to assess and provide direction for system- and individual-level interventions designed to improve well-being for all students, residents, fellows, faculty, and other health professionals in the Mount Sinai Health System. He is the former Associate Dean of GME for Trainee Well-Being within the ISMMS Office of Graduate Medical Education, in which capacity he served to help spread well-being initiatives across the training programs of the Mount Sinai Health System. 

In the Department of Medicine, Dr. Ripp practices as a clinician in the Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors home-based primary care program, where he maintains an active patient panel. In addition, Dr. Ripp is the Co-founder and Co-Director of CHARM, the Collaborative for Healing and Renewal in Medicine, an international group of medical educators, academic medical center and well-being leaders, experts in burnout research and interventions, and learners all working to promote healthcare professional and learner well-being. CHARM maintains several leadership networks, including the CHARM Chief Wellness Officer Network and the CHARM GME Well-Being Leaders Network, and also actively develops important content to advance the literature and field of clinician well-being. 

Recognized for his leadership in this area, Dr. Ripp has been invited to participate in the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education Symposia on Physician Well-Being, join the American College of Physician's Promoting Physician Wellness Task Force, and participate in the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-being and Resilience. He also chairs the Greater New York Hospital Association’s Clinician Well-Being Advisory Group. Dr. Ripp’s primary research interest is in physician burnout and well-being, for which he has received grant support and has published and lectured widely. His multicenter studies have served to better elucidate the causes and consequences of physician burnout and have explored interventions designed to promote clinician well-being.  

Bree Andrews, MD, MPH, is a neonatologist and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago Medicine and serves as the inaugural Chief Wellness and Vitality Officer for Physicians for the Biological Sciences Division and the University of Chicago Medicine. She is also an Associate Dean for the Office of Faculty Advancement. In these roles, she is charged with assessing physician well-being across the organization and implementing programs that improve ease of practice, collegiality, resilience, and professional fulfillment. Her interests focus on professional identity and faculty as they prepare for and navigate meaningful, sustainable career trajectories. 

Jamile (Jay) Ashmore, PhD, is the Chief Wellness Officer and Director of the Division of Medical Psychology at Baylor Scott & White – The Heart Hospital.  He leads enterprise wide strategies to enhance physician well-being through systems-based and evidence-informed approaches. His work focuses on cultivating a well-being centered organizational culture, improving operational efficiencies, and advancing structural supports that mitigate burnout and promote occupational fulfillment.

Dr. Ashmore earned his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from The Ohio State University and completed clinical training at Duke University Medical Center in the Division of Medical Psychology. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas, where his research examined biopsychosocial determinants of health behavior change in chronic illness contexts including cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and obesity. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and industry.

He previously served as Director and Vice President of the Division of Weight Management at the Cooper Institute and Cooper Aerobics Enterprises, leading research and clinical programs.  At Baylor Scott & White-Plano, Dr. Ashmore led the hospital-based behavioral medicine service line and, as East Region Director of Behavioral Health, co-chaired the system-wide Behavioral Health Council and contributed to clinician well-being initiatives.  Nationally, he has served on the American Psychological Association’s Advisory Steering Committee for Clinical Practice Guidelines and the Healthcare Finance Advisory Committee.

In his current role, Dr. Ashmore chairs the Executive Physician Well-Being Committee and oversees programs addressing individual and system-level drivers of well-being for physicians and trainees. He is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Texas A&M College of Medicine, where he supports medical student education and ACGME well-being curricula for residents and fellows. He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Healthcare Professional Well-Being Academic Consortium and collaborates nationally to advance the science and practice of healthcare workforce well-being.

With over 25 years of experience working with service dogs, Dr. Ashmore directs the Dogs of Cardiac Support facility dog program at The Heart Hospital. His current scholarly interests include well-being-centered leadership in matrixed healthcare systems, psychometric evaluation of workforce well-being, and developing a unified lexicon to foster shared understanding of well-being terms and constructs. His work aims to strengthen conceptual frameworks and measurement tools that enable health systems to accurately assess well-being and translate findings into targeted, evidence-based interventions.

Colin West, MD, PhD, FACP. Originally from Seattle, Dr. West received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Iowa in 1999. He completed residency and chief residency in internal medicine at Mayo Clinic, and joined the faculty in General Internal Medicine in 2004. He is currently Professor of Medicine, Medical Education, and Biostatistics at Mayo. He is Director of the Mayo Clinic Program on Physician Well-Being and was named the first Medical Director of Employee Well-Being for Mayo Clinic in 2022. Dr. West's research has focused on medical education and physician well-being, and has been widely published in prominent journals including Lancet, JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, and JAMA Internal Medicine. 

Jesse McCall, MBA, is Senior Director and Improvement Advisor for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He coaches individuals and organizations through the process of improvement which includes the data-driven identification of strategic improvement priorities, development of operational systems to support improvement, and the building of practical improvement capability necessary for staff to get results that matter. McCall also has extensive experience in coaching organizations to engage clinical staff to reduce burnout and foster joy in work. McCall joined IHI in 2007 and over his tenure has designed, executed, and evaluated programs and projects around the world. McCall is also a Teaching Fellow at The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. McCall has expertise in practical application of the science of improvement, staff engagement and wellness, program and product development, marketing and communications, customer relationship management, and large-scale initiative operations. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Northeastern University in Boston and MBA from the UMASS Amherst Isenberg School of Management.

Robert Lloyd, PhD, is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He is also a visiting lecturer at Harvard University.  Dr. Lloyd served as Vice President of Improvement Science and Methods at the IHI for over 20 years.  During this time, he provided leadership in the areas of performance improvement strategies, building capacity and capability for improvement, statistical process control methods, and development of strategic dashboards. He currently serves as faculty for various IHI initiatives and demonstration projects in the US and abroad.  Before joining IHI, Dr. Lloyd served as the Corporate Director of Quality Resource Services for Advocate Health Care (Oakbrook, IL), Senior Director of Quality Measurement for Lutheran General Health System, Senior Director at the Hospital Research and Educational Trust of AHA, and spent ten years with the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania in various leadership roles. He is author of numerous articles, reports, and several books.

Jessica Behrhorst, MPH, CPPS, CPQH, CPHRM, Quality, Safety and HRO Consultant, Aptive Resources, works in the areas of patient safety, workforce safety, and high reliability. She is faculty for the IHI Patient Safety Executive Development Program and on Redesigning Event Review with Root Cause Analysis and Action (RCA2). Prior to Joining Aptive Resources she served as the Senior Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). She has also served as the Assistant Vice President of Quality & Patient Safety at Ochsner Health System where she helped set the strategic priorities in quality and patient safety and oversaw various projects involving patient safety, performance improvement, regulatory readiness, ambulatory nursing, and quality outcomes. She has presented her work on RCA2 and Improving the Culture of Safety at various regional and national meetings. She has also worked on research projects involving reduction in Sepsis mortality and access to healthcare for underserved populations. Jessica received her bachelor’s degree from Tulane University and her Master of Public Health Degree from the Louisiana State University School of Public Health. She is a Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS), a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) and a Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM).

Lauge Sokol-Hessner, MD, CPPS, is a practicing clinician, educator, researcher, innovator, and leader in patient safety & quality improvement. He’s an Associate Professor of Medicine and an attending hospitalist at the University of Washington (UW) & Harborview Medical Centers, and a Quality Improvement Mentor at the UW Medicine Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality and Safety.  As the Associate Director for the UW Collaborative for Accountability and Improvement and a Faculty Coach for the PACT Collaborative, he helps lead national work to sustain and spread more proactive, ethical, person-centered responses after harm events.  He has operational quality & safety experience as a former Senior Medical Director of Patient Safety at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.  As IHI Faculty, and as a former quality and safety fellowship program director and masters program course director at Harvard Medical School, he's passionate about helping develop the next generation of leaders in quality and safety, and he regularly teaches about patient safety, quality improvement, and leadership.  He completed his medical degree and internal medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jesse McCall, MBA, is Senior Director and Improvement Advisor for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He coaches individuals and organizations through the process of improvement which includes the data-driven identification of strategic improvement priorities, development of operational systems to support improvement, and the building of practical improvement capability necessary for staff to get results that matter. Jesse also has extensive experience in coaching organizations to engage clinical staff to reduce burnout and foster joy in work. Jesse joined IHI in 2007 and over his tenure has designed, executed, and evaluated programs and projects around the world. Jesse is also a Teaching Fellow at The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and has expertise in practical application of the science of improvement, staff engagement and wellness, program and product development, marketing and communications, customer relationship management, and large-scale initiative operations. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Northeastern University in Boston and MBA from the UMASS Amherst Isenberg School of Management.

Jessica Behrhorst, MPH, CPPS, CPQH, CPHRM, Quality, Safety and HRO Consultant, Aptive Resources, works in the areas of patient safety, workforce safety, and high reliability. She is faculty for the IHI Patient Safety Executive Development Program and on Redesigning Event Review with Root Cause Analysis and Action (RCA2). Prior to Joining Aptive Resources she served as the Senior Director at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). She has also served as the Assistant Vice President of Quality & Patient Safety at Ochsner Health System where she helped set the strategic priorities in quality and patient safety and oversaw various projects involving patient safety, performance improvement, regulatory readiness, ambulatory nursing, and quality outcomes. She has presented her work on RCA2 and Improving the Culture of Safety at various regional and national meetings. She has also worked on research projects involving reduction in Sepsis mortality and access to healthcare for underserved populations. Jessica received her bachelor’s degree from Tulane University and her Master of Public Health Degree from the Louisiana State University School of Public Health. She is a Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS), a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) and a Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM).

Lauge Sokol-Hessner, MD, CPPS, is a practicing clinician, educator, researcher, innovator, and leader in patient safety & quality improvement. He’s an Associate Professor of Medicine and an attending hospitalist at the University of Washington (UW) & Harborview Medical Centers, and a Quality Improvement Mentor at the UW Medicine Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality and Safety.  As the Associate Director for the UW Collaborative for Accountability and Improvement and a Faculty Coach for the PACT Collaborative, he helps lead national work to sustain and spread more proactive, ethical, person-centered responses after harm events.  He has operational quality & safety experience as a former Senior Medical Director of Patient Safety at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.  As IHI Faculty, and as a former quality and safety fellowship program director and masters program course director at Harvard Medical School, he's passionate about helping develop the next generation of leaders in quality and safety, and he regularly teaches about patient safety, quality improvement, and leadership.  He completed his medical degree and internal medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania.

Pat Folcarelli, RN, MA, PhD, is the Sr. Vice President for Patient Care Services and the Cynthia and Robert J. Lepofsky Chief Nursing Officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Folcarelli rejoined BIDMC after serving for 3 years as Vice President for Patient Safety at CRICO the insurance captive for the 35 Harvard affiliated institutions. In her CRICO role Pat assisted with strategic and operational patient safety solutions. Prior to joining CRICO in 2020, Folcarelli worked in various roles at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) for more than 30 years both in nursing leadership roles and in the area of patient safety and health care quality finally serving as the Vice President for Health Care Quality. Folcarelli is a part time lecturer in Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and for the past 5 years has co-directed a course on Patient and Family Engagement in Quality and Safety for the master’s in healthcare quality and safety at HMS. Folcarelli received her BS in Nursing from Hunter College of the City University of NY and earned both her M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University. She serves on the PNQIN (Perinatal Quality Improvement Network) advisory board, the Quality and Safety Board Subcommittee for Mercy, a health system headquartered in St. Louis, MO, and the Board Subcommittee for Quality and Safety Committee of Baystate Health. Folcarelli is also the former Co-Chair of MACRMI (the Massachusetts Alliance for Communication and Resolution Following Medical Injury) and MITSS (Medically Induced Trauma Support Services) both of which are now a part of the Betsy Lehman Center. She has also served on the Board of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors and is a past president of the Massachusetts Society for Healthcare Risk Management.

Jesse McCall, MBA, is Senior Director and Improvement Advisor for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He coaches individuals and organizations through the process of improvement which includes the data-driven identification of strategic improvement priorities, development of operational systems to support improvement, and the building of practical improvement capability necessary for staff to get results that matter. Jesse also has extensive experience in coaching organizations to engage clinical staff to reduce burnout and foster joy in work. Jesse joined IHI in 2007 and over his tenure has designed, executed, and evaluated programs and projects around the world. McCall is also a Teaching Fellow at The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. McCall has expertise in practical application of the science of improvement, staff engagement and wellness, program and product development, marketing and communications, customer relationship management, and large-scale initiative operations. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Northeastern University in Boston and MBA from the UMASS Amherst Isenberg School of Management.

Rebecca Steinfield, Senior Director and Improvement Advisor, has been with IHI since 1996. She currently serves as Director of IHI’s Improvement Advisor Professional Development Program, teaches IHI courses on improvement methods, and mentors “improvers-in-training.” Rebecca sits on IHI’s Improvement Science and Methods team and serves as an Improvement Advisor on results-oriented work.

Rebecca Butler, MA is a senior program manager for the system safety program at MedStar Health. In this role, she helps manage the system’s adverse event reporting and review processes. Rebecca specializes in integrating human factors engineering and safety science principles to create and implement solutions that increase safety throughout the MedStar Health system. She has expertise in medical device usability and previously worked for MedStar Health’s National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare as a consultant to manufacturers working through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pre-market submission process. She holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech and a master’s in human factors and applied cognition from George Mason University.

Laura Lee, MS, BSN is MedStar Health’s Assistant Vice President for Patient Safety. In this role, Laura is integral to developing and operationalizing MedStar Health’s high reliability and patient safety strategic initiatives. Laura is committed to bringing the principles of high reliability to life through practical applications at the front line of care delivery and healthcare operations and to advancing MedStar Health as a leader in the design of proactive safety systems that anticipate and prevent hazards and unsafe conditions. Prior to joining the MedStar Health team, Laura was the Director of the Office of Patient Safety and Clinical Quality at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (NIH CC). As a senior leadership team member, Laura’s responsibilities included managing the NIH CC’s patient safety, clinical quality improvement, and performance measurement programs, guiding the NIH CC’s high-reliability journey, and managing the NIH CC’s accreditation activities. Laura holds a Master of Science in Patient Safety Leadership from the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois-Chicago, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Catholic University of America, and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Gettysburg College.

Kristen Miller, DrPH, CPPS is the Co-Director of the MedStar Health Center for Diagnostic Systems Safety, Senior Scientific Director of the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, Affiliate Faculty at Georgetown Innovation Center for Biomedical Informatics, and Graduate Faculty at George Mason University College of Public Health. Dr. Miller is a clinically oriented human factors researcher focusing on diagnostic safety, medical decision-making, informatics, and the assessment of medical interventions with an emphasis on healthcare delivery. Her work incorporates both industrial engineering and cognitive psychology components and takes into account the entire system, from health information technology to characteristics of individual patients. Dr. Miller was recently appointed to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Forum on Advancing Diagnostic Excellence, serves as a mentor in the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) Fellowship in Diagnostic Excellence, and is an active participant on the Diagnostic Safety Measures Expert Workgroup to support AHRQ’s Quality Indicators (QI) Program.

Zoe Pruitt, MS, CPHFH is a Senior Human Factors Scientist at the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare. She specializes in applying the psychology of human error to safety event analysis and process improvement. Her research interests include the usability of healthcare technologies, including electronic health records and medication administration records. She also helps manage the center’s internal and external human factors consulting team and synchronous and asynchronous education initiatives. She has lectured at various conferences and institutions, including the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Patient Safety Authority. Zoe earned her Master of Arts in Human Factors and Applied Cognition at George Mason University and her Bachelor of Arts in Brain and Cognitive Science at the University of Rochester. She is also a Certified Professional in Human Factors in Healthcare.

Raj Ratwani, PhD, MPH is the director of the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare-- the largest human factors research team embedded in a healthcare system. As a center director, he is responsible for overall strategy development and execution, and he oversees research, advisory services, and education efforts. He is also the vice president of scientific affairs for the MedStar Health Research Institute. He is responsible for supporting researchers in program development, identifying strategic partners and funding opportunities to foster high-impact research, and supporting an administrative infrastructure that enables rigorous research. He earned a Doctorate in Human Factors and Applied Cognition from George Mason University and received the Fleishman dissertation award for outstanding research. He completed a National Research Council post-doctoral fellowship at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Dr. Ratwani is a professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine who teaches human factors in the Executive Master’s in Clinical Quality, Safety, and Leadership program.

Auzewell "Auz" Chitewe, MSc, BSc Hons, is as a nurse and is an Improvement Advisor working as Programme Director of Improvement at the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). One of His most treasured moment in Quality Improvement was when his team had the privilege of being awarded the 2022 Quality Team of the Year award at the fifth International Quality Awards (IQA). 

In addition to his support of frontline improvement projects, Auz is experienced in developing and delivering system-wide work programs, collaboratives and learning systems. Some of his work has centered on system-wide improving access to services, joy in work, improving population health, tackling inequalities.

He has experience providing strategic and operational leadership in organizations looking to building a culture of continuous quality improvement that involves everyone. He is a recipient of the NHS Leadership Academy Award in Senior Healthcare Leadership and is a member of faculty for coaching and teaching on improvement science across professional, communities and organizational boundaries. 

His leisure interests include shooting 360º photography and exploring virtual reality worlds.

Christina Southey, MSc, is an Improvement Advisor with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and independent consultant. She currently supports IHI’s Age-Friendly Health Systems action communities, spread initiative and international work and has been involved in the movement since 2020. Additionally, she has supported multiple projects in various care settings including those focused on equity, chronic disease, and maternal care. She especially enjoys initiatives that include fostering community collaboration in partnership with those with lived experience. Southey has taught quality improvement in small and large group education sessions in North America and internationally. She is a seasoned facilitator and trained in the Lewis method of Deep Democracy to support groups working through conflict. Christina holds a Masters in Community Health and Epidemiology and lives with her family in Toronto, Ontario Canada.

Dr. Oren Guttman, MD, MBA

System Vice President for High Reliability & Patient Safety | Jefferson Health

Edward Asplundh Chief Quality & Patient Safety Officer| Jefferson Health Abington

Professor of Anesthesiology & Peri-operative Medicine

Sidney Kimmel Medical College

Dr. Oren Guttman is an internationally recognized thought leader in patient safety and in the application of human factors, design science, and resiliency engineering in healthcare. He serves as the Jefferson Health System Vice President for Patient Safety at Jefferson Health, a 32-hospital system across Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey. He holds the Edward Asplundh endowed Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer at Jefferson Health Abington Hospital, and maintains a clinical commitment, as a Professor of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical College.

Dr Guttman is the principal architect of Jefferson Health’s Safety Management System, a pioneering framework that integrates resiliency engineering, applied human factors, and modern safety science into clinical operations. This system earned the ECRI Safety Excellence Award and serves as a foundational piece of the model for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) CareOS redesign. His focus on reducing HAIs (CLABSIs) utilizing resiliency engineering principles, was among the 3 case studies that earned Jefferson Health recognition by HIMSS with the Davies Award in 2022.

Dr. Guttman’s work in integrating human factors and resiliency engineering in healthcare as a new paradigm to advance patient safety, has been featured in major media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Becker’s Hospital Review, and Healthcare Tech Outlook. He has delivered dozens of invited presentations, and spoken on multiple podcasts and webinars hosted by IHI, AHA, CMS, and others. He serves as IHI Faculty, where he supports their Transforming Safety Together Steering Committee and co-leads their Advanced Patient Safety Course.

Leah Konwinski, MS, CPE, is a health care embedded Human Factors Engineer and the Director of Human Factors and Innovation at Corewell Health in Michigan. Leah is responsible for driving the organization’s proactive improvement strategy for patient safety, quality, and experience. She and her team specialize in leveraging human-centered systems analysis and participatory design to achieve breakthrough improvement. Their applied research centers around applying resilience engineering and human factors methods to better understand and solve for barriers to simple, satisfying, and safe work. She is internationally recognized as a deep thinker and practitioner of human factors and ergonomics, and a passionate advocate for human-centered design in the healthcare field.

Before her tenure in healthcare, Leah worked in the automotive, food production, aviation, engineering, and product design industries, bringing ergonomics and human factors insights into many design and improvement initiatives. Leah received her Bachelor of Science with Honors from the University of Guelph and her Masters of Human Kinetics with a focus on Biomechanics and Human Factors from the University of Windsor, both in Ontario, Canada. Leah is a Certified Professional Ergonomist, a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, the Resilience Engineering Association, and the Human Factors Transforming Healthcare group.

Jeremy Schwartz, MSN, RN, CNL, Director of Nursing Practice, Clinical Quality and Performance Excellence, has over a decade of nursing leadership experience. From a bedside Oncology nurse to a director of practice, Jeremy has a deep understanding of clinical operations, patient experience, nursing practice, change leadership and team development. He drives, innovates practice and implements system-wide improvements in patient safety, nursing practice, and quality. Jeremy has led successful initiatives to reduce CAUTI, CLABSI, falls with injury, improve mobility and decrease sepsis achieving significant gains in quality metrics. He designs and implements innovative workflows, mentors nursing leaders, facilitates shared governance councils, and collaborates across disciplines to enhance care delivery. He aligns nursing practice across a large hospital system.