OR Smart Project Team
Ken Catchpole Ph.D., BSc, MCIEHF
SmartState Endowed Chair
Dr. Ken Catchpole is a cognitive scientist and human factors practitioner who has spent over a decade studying the influence of task, team, technology and environment on safety and performance in acute care. He began his work at the world-renowned Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London, working with congenital heart surgery teams, followed by six years as a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford extending this research and quality improvement to vascular, general, and orthopedic surgery, utilizing techniques from other industries such as aviation, production, and formula one motor racing.
J H Abernathy, III, MD, MPH, FASE, FAHA
Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University
James (Jake) H. Abernathy, III, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor and Division Chief of Cardiac Anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins.After completing medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham he did a residency in Anesthesiology and a fellowship in Cardiac Anesthesiology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. Dr.Abernathy has a long history of collaborating with human factors engineers, healthcare architects and sociologists to better understand how to improve the delivery of clinical care. Two notable projects include RIPCHORD, investigating the impact of OR space and design on human error, and OR-SMART which seeks to understand the anesthesia medication delivery system –both projects are currently funded by AHRQ. Additionally, he serves the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists as a member of the Board of Directors and the American Society of Anesthesiologists on the Committee for Performance and Outcome Metrics and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists.
David Neyens, Ph.D.
Associate Professor in Industrial Engineering
David Neyens is an associate professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering. His research interests include assessing patient safety and quality improvement projects that lead to more effective and safe experiences for patients. His research centers on human factors in complex health systems and how operators and individuals use systems and technologies in a safe and efficient manner to result in process and performance improvements. He works to evaluate and model decision making in complex health care systems with uncertain outcomes. He received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in industrial engineering at the University of Iowa. He also received an M.P.H. with a focus in ergonomics from the University of Iowa's Department of Occupational and Environmental Health.
Anjali Joseph, Ph.D., EDAC
SmartState Endowed Chair in Architecture + Health Design and Research
Anjali Joseph, Ph.D., EDAC is the Spartanburg Regional Health System Endowed Chair in Architecture + Health Design and Director of the Center for Health Facilities Design and Testing at Clemson University. Dr. Anjali Joseph is focused on using simulation and prototyping methods to research and test effectiveness of promising design solutions that may impact patient safety in high stress healthcare environments. She has focused her research on multidisciplinary approaches to improving patient safety in healthcare through the development of tools and built environment solutions. She is also interested in understanding the role of the built environment in improving population health outcomes. She is currently leading a multidisciplinary AHRQ funded project to develop a learning lab focused on improving patient safety in the operating room. She led the research activities at The Center for Health Design before joining Clemson. Here, she served as principal investigator on several grants from different organizations such as Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Green Building Council and the Kresge Foundation. Anjali’s work has been published in many academic journals and magazines. She frequently peer reviews articles for journals. She currently serves on an independent review panel on military medical construction standards for the Defense Health Agency. Anjali obtained her Ph.D. with a focus on Architecture, Culture and Behavior from the Georgia Institute of Technology, master's degree in Architecture from Kansas State University and bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, India.
Sarah Coppola, ScD
Postdoctoral research fellow, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Sarah Coppola, ScD is a postdoctoral research fellow in human factors engineering at Johns Hopkins.Her research focuses on complex sociotechnical systems and ways to improve medical error and technology-related injury. Dr. Coppola is focused on reducing medication error in the operating room and using technology to improve transitions and handoffs for pediatric trauma patients. She uses mixed direct and indirect measures to identify and quantify both cognitive and physical risks to patient and worker safety. Dr. Coppola earned a doctorate in Ergonomics from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, a master’s in Human Factors Engineering from Tufts University, and a bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University.
Patience Osei, MSE
Quality and Innovation Project Administrator on the Human Factors, Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality
Patience Osei, MSE is the Quality and Innovation Project Administrator on the Human Factors team at the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. She is a Biomedical Engineer with a broad technical skill-set, research and project management experience, as well as extensive international exposure. Patience is passionate about patient safety, global health and the development of high-quality, low-cost medical devices and processes for different healthcare settings. Her research interests include the application of human factors engineering to infection control and prevention.
Richard J. Holden, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of BioHealth Informatics, Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing
Richard Holden, Ph.D. is a human factors engineer & psychologist with 16 years of applied research in the domains of health and healthcare. Hisexpertise is in the application of human factors theories, tools, and methods to the user-centered design and evaluation of health information technology (IT). Dr. Holden’swork spans settings such as the emergency room, pediatric and adult hospitals, inpatient pharmacy, hospital IT departments, primary and specialty outpatientcare clinics, and community-based population health management programs. He hasbeen involved in numerous health IT design and evaluation projects spanning a wide range of technologies used by clinicians and patients. Dr. Holden’s particular expertiseis in the use, adaptation, and development of research tools and methods, particularly for in situmixed methods field research. He has served asPrincipal Investigator or played key roles on 15 projects funded by NIH, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and other national entities. In the last 10 years, Dr. Holden has authored over 100 articles, refereed proceedings papers, and book chapters on human factors in health and healthcare.
Ayse P. Gurses, PhD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Ayse P. Gurses, PhD is an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She holds a joint appointment in Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management. Dr. Gurses areas of expertise include human factors engineering, patient safety, healthcare technology design, and implementation and usability evaluation. Her current research focuses on improving patient safety in the cardiac operating room, transitions of care/handoffs, care coordination, compliance of providers with evidence-based guidelines and nursing working conditions.Dr. Gurses earned her PhD in industrial engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Maryland-Baltimore. Before joining the Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Gurses served as a faculty member at the University of Maryland-Baltimore and the University of Minnesota.
Catherine Dawson Tobin, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina
Catherine Tobin, MD is a board-certified anesthesiologist with a passion for education. She serves as the director of third year medical student anesthesia education at MUSC.Dr. Tobin is an active faculty member, regularly providing resident and medical student lectures. She is on the ambulatory and obstetrical anesthesia teams within her department. Of note, Dr. Tobin helped develop the Moderate Sedation Simulation Course for Non-Anesthesia Providers at MUSC. She is also an American Heart Association Advanced Cardiac Life Support Instructor and provides regular skills checkoff’s and mega-codes for other physicians in the simulation center.Dr. Tobin received “Master Facilitator” recognition from the Medical University of South Carolina Simulation Center in 2018 and 2019. She has developed and taught numerous simulation courses including Pharmacology of Anesthetic Drugs, Acute Crisis Resource Management, and Basic Emergency Airway Management. Much of her research is focused on simulation education.
Jason Haney, PharmD
Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina
Dr. Jason Haney completed his undergraduate education at Wofford College and served as an active duty officer in the United States Army Medical Service Corps upon graduation. Following his military service, Dr. Haney earned his PharmD degree and completed pharmacy residence training in pharmacy practice and critical care pharmacy at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, SC. Dr. Haney joined the MUSC College of Pharmacy in 2010 and is currently an associate professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences.
Maya Rucks, PhD student
Industrial Engineering, Clemson University
Maya Rucks is a first year PhD student in the Industrial Engineering department performing research in the Ergonomics and Applied Statistics Lab under the supervision of Dr. David Neyens. Maya is currently focusing on the definitions and conceptualizations of perioperative anesthesia medication errors.
Joshua Biro, MS student
Industrial Engineering, Clemson University
Joshua is a Masters student in the Industrial Engineering department currently performing research in the Ergonomics and Applied Statistics Lab under the advisement of Dr. David Neyens.He is focusing on applying human factors principles to understand the decision-making process of anesthesia providers.
Myrtede Alfred, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina
Dr. Myrtede Alfred is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She is currently conducting research on surgical instrument reprocessing, medication safety in anesthesia, coordination in robotic-assisted surgery, and maternal health.In her role, she also supports clinical operations working closely with MUSC’s quality and safety team on incident investigations and providing human factors expertise on various projects and quality improvement efforts. Dr. Alfred has over 10 peer-reviewed publications and is a co-investigator on the OR-SMART patient safety learning lab grant. She enjoys outdoor activities, good coffee, and David Attenborough documentaries. In her free time she runs a STEAM education nonprofit, called Marie’s Kids, in North Charleston.
Candace B. Jaruzel, PhD, MSN, CRNA
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina
Candace Jaruzel, PhD is acertified registered nurse anesthetist. She has provided anesthesia for patients in both inpatient and outpatient surgical settings. Dr. Jaruzel obtained her PhD in Nursing Science allowing her to apply her clinical expertise and research skills in both the clinical and academic arenas. As an Assistant Professor and Assistant Program Director, she is focused on evidence-based practice, clinical anesthesia practice and research, and doctoral student advising. Dr. Jaruzel’s extensive clinical background, current clinical practice, academic leadership, and continued research has allowed her to develop a deep understanding of patients, students, and evidence-based practice.
Sahar Mihandoust, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor in Architecture + Health
Sahar Mihandoust, Ph. D. is a Research Assistant Professor for the Center for Health Facilities Design and Testing at Clemson University. Sahar’s research focuses on the effects of biophilic design on nurse and patient outcomes in Intensive Care Units. In her research she explored and compared the spatial configurations of Intensive care units, nurse’s perception of their environment, and nurse burnout levels. Her research interests also include evidence-based health care design, patient safety, and design for special populations. In her current position she is collaborating in a multidisciplinary team to examine built environment solutions for improving patient safety, user experience and operational efficiencies. Sahar obtained her Ph.D. in Environmental and Interior Design from Texas Tech University; She has also earned a Master’s degree in Architecture from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and an M.Arch degree from Iran University of Science and Technology. Sahar has over five years of experience in research, teaching, and practice in interior design, healthcare design, and architecture in the United States and Iran.
