Aviation, nuclear, and industrial accident investigator brings decades of complex-systems safety expertise to healthcare's leading independent patient safety authority

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., Sept. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ECRI, a global authority on healthcare safety and quality, announced the appointment of Professor Najmedin Meshkati, PhD, to its Board of Trustees. For nearly four decades, Professor Meshkati's research has focused on reducing risk and improving reliability in complex, high-consequence systems, including nuclear power, aviation, and petrochemical operations.

Professor Meshkati has investigated some of the most closely studied system failures of the past 30 years, including the BP Texas City Refinery explosion, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. He testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation as a member of the FAA's independent Expert Panel on Boeing examining safety management system and safety culture at Boeing. He is a member and presently chairs the State of California's Diablo Canyon Independent Safety Committee.

Professor Meshkati served as a Commissioner of The Joint Commission from 2016 to 2024; currently serves on the Governance Board of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation; has been a member of Quality Committee of the Hospital Governing Boards of the University of Southern California; and is active in the World Health Organization and Imperial College of London Global Patient Safety Collaborative. He is an elected Fellow and inaugural "Titan" of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Professor Meshkati is a tenured professor at the University of Southern California, holding appointments in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering, and International Relations.

"Professor Meshkati has spent his career studying why complex systems fail and what it takes to make them consistently safer. That is precisely the lens ECRI applies to healthcare," said Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD, President and CEO, ECRI. "His appointment on our Board of Trustees strengthens our ability to help hospitals and health systems proactively design safer care. In high-risk industries like aviation and nuclear power, companies with reliably safe outcomes view safety from a system-lens, rooted in human factors engineering and a safety culture. Relying on individual vigilance to avoid accidents is shortsighted and dangerous, yet it happens in healthcare every day."

Professor Meshkati's board appointment comes as ECRI deepens its focus on SafeSystem Solutions, powered by human factors engineering and a safety-focused culture for the workforce, central to ECRI's approach to reducing preventable harm. ECRI's services are focused on creating resilient and safe healthcare systems and assessing technologies used in those systems, backed by new investments and a commitment to transformative change. 

"Patient harm rarely stems from a single incident; it is often the result of a causal chain shaped by the culture, systems, technology and human factors in the care environment," added Schabacker. "Healthcare must move beyond looking at safety failures in isolation to better understand the conditions that allow harm to occur. Professor Meshkati brings critical systems-thinking expertise to ECRI that will help us scale a more holistic approach to safety."

About ECRI

ECRI is an independent, nonprofit organization improving the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of care across all healthcare settings. Over the past six decades, ECRI has built its reputation on integrity and disciplined rigor, with an unwavering commitment to independence and evidence-based insights. ECRI is designated an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The ECRI and Institute for Safe Medication Practices PSO is a federally certified Patient Safety Organization (PSO) as designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ECRI is the only organization worldwide to conduct independent medical device evaluations. ECRI acquired The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) in 2020 to address one of the most prolific causes of preventable harm in healthcare, medication errors; then acquired The Just Culture Company in 2024 to transform healthcare workplace cultures – thus creating one of the largest healthcare quality and safety entities in the world.

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SOURCE ECRI