Ken Catchpole, PhD

Ken Catchpole, PhD, has spent the last 18 years pioneering the adoption of human factors principles through the integration of research and practice for improved patient safety in acute care. Initially exploring mechanisms of harm in congenital heart surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, and evaluating teamwork and Lean interventions at the University of Oxford, he moved to Cedars-Sinai in 2011 to study and implement improvements in trauma, before joining MUSC in 2015 as the Endowed Chair in Clinical Practice and Human Factors. Current projects include improving anesthesia medication delivery; safety in robotic surgery; and sterile processing work systems improvement; with a dozen other interests at any one time. He has been supported by AHRQ, FAER, NIBIB, DoD TATRC, Leverhulme Trust and BUPA. Through over 100 peer-reviewed publications, public speaking, and the media, he has engaged thousands of people in the improvement of healthcare from a sociotechnical systems perspective.