Presented September 10, 2026 at the 2026 APSF Stoelting Conference on “SOS!: Signals of Safety… Safely across the Patient’s Perioperative Journey”
ABOUT THE SPEAKER(S)
Meghan Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP, FCCM
E. M. Papper Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology
Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University in the City of New York
Anesthesiologist-in-Chief
New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Meghan Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP, FCCM, serves as E. M. Papper Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and is the Anesthesiologist-in-Chief at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. An accomplished anesthesiologist and intensive care physician, Dr. Lane-Fall completed advanced training in health services research and implementation science and brings a multidisciplinary approach to her work. Her research lab is at the forefront of applying implementation science and systems engineering to enhance patient safety and communication in perioperative and critical care environments. Dr. Lane-Fall co-leads an NIH-funded national implementation science hub dedicated to improving maternal health outcomes and she collaborates internationally on a range of implementation research initiatives. A passionate mentor, Dr. Lane-Fall has guided more than 90 mentees across all levels of training, from undergraduate students to faculty, fostering the next generation of clinicians and scientists. Her commitment to advancing the field extends to her service on the Boards of Directors for both the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation and the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research. Dr. Lane-Fall’s leadership, research, and mentorship have made her a prominent figure in academic medicine, dedicated to driving innovation, improving patient care, and supporting the professional growth of her colleagues and trainees.
Jeffrey B. Cooper, PhD
Professor of Anaesthesia Emeritus (retired)
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA
Executive Director Emeritus & Senior Fellow
Center for Medical Simulation
Jeffrey B. Cooper, PhD, now retired, is Professor of Anaesthesia, Emeritus, at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the founder, Executive Director Emeritus and Senior Fellow of the Center for Medical Simulation, which is dedicated to the use of simulation in healthcare to improve the process of education and training and to avoid risk to patients.
Cooper is one of the pioneers in what is now called patient safety. He did landmark research in medical errors in the 1970’s and is a co-founder of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF). He was for many years Director of Biomedical Engineering at the Massachusetts General Hospital and then Partners Healthcare System. He is author or co-author of over 150 peer reviewed articles and book chapters. He is still active on several research projects and as a mentor and advisor.
Cooper has been awarded several honors for his work in patient safety, simulation and clinical engineering, including the John M. Eisenberg Award for Lifetime Achievement in Patient Safety from the National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Clinical Engineering. He received the Distinguished Service Award of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in 2013, the only non-MD to receive the honor. He is one of the first two members of the Hall of Fame of the American College of Clinical Engineering. The Society for Simulation in Healthcare recently honored him with its Pioneer Award.
Helen Higham, MBChB, FRCA, DPhil, SFHEA
Helen is an Associate Professor in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford, a Consultant Anaesthetist at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Associate Dean for Simulation and Patient Safety at NHSE-Thames Valley. She is the first woman to be awarded the Royal College of Anaesthetists’ Frederic Hewitt Lectureship and was also awarded the Asmund Laerdal Memorial Lecture in June 2026 in recognition of her work in patient safety teaching and research.
She is the Director of OxSTaR, the University of Oxford’s simulation and patient safety research centre, (www.oxstar.ox.ac.uk). Helen has led and supported many safety incident investigations in the NHS and has delivered national training programmes in systems-based incident investigation. She was a founding executive member and a past president of the Association for Simulated Practice in Healthcare in the UK and provides expert input for national committees in patient safety and human factors training and the national simulation faculty programme. She currently leads the Human Factors module on the Masters in Surgical Science and Practice in the University of Oxford.
Her research interests include healthcare systems safety and simulation-based education in healthcare with current projects focused on system-based approaches to safety in primary care, AI interventions to improve safety in healthcare, human factors in low to middle income healthcare settings and the use of virtual reality to train healthcare professionals.
Outside work she is a keen baker and a “fair weather” diver.
