Advisory Board

The S4R project benefits from the guidance of a distinguished Expert Advisory Board (EAB). This independent, international panel comprises high-profile experts in fields directly relevant to the S4R’s goals. The EAB plays a critical role by providing continual evaluation and input throughout the S4R project lifecycle. Their expertise is invaluable in assessing the project’s processes, practices, and outcomes, ensuring the project stays on track and delivers impactful results.

Prof. David Bates

Professor David Bates is the Chief of the Division of General Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, comprising a team of approximately 150 physicians. He is responsible for the group’s research, teaching, and clinical activities.

He also serves as the Medical Director of Clinical and Quality Analysis for Partner’s Healthcare Systems, where he evaluates the impact of information systems across the network.

In education, Professor Bates is active in mentoring fellows, teaching at the School of Public Health, and co-directing the Clinical Effectiveness Program. He has developed and coordinated several educational programs and courses and continues to teach in them regularly. He also attends on the wards for 2-4 weeks per year and serves as a Primary Care Mentor.

Professor Bates leads a large research group focused on using computer systems to improve patient care. His work, particularly on the incidence and preventability of adverse drug events, has led to significant improvements in medication ordering and efficiency of drug use.

At the national level, Professor Bates has worked as a Science Advisor to the SCRIPT project, testified to the Institute of Medicine and Congress, and served as an advisor to the Leapfrog Group. He is also the editor of the Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management.

Professor Bates has received numerous prestigious awards and honors, such as being elected as a member of the Association of American Physicians and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and receiving the John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety Research from The National Quality Forum.

Prof. Patricia Davidson

Professor Davidson, with four decades of experience as a registered nurse, possesses expertise in cardiovascular science and the care of vulnerable populations, especially those with chronic and complex conditions. Before her tenure at the University of Wollongong, she held the positions of Dean and Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. She is deeply involved in doctoral education and is dedicated to mentoring new researchers. She champions diversity, equity, inclusion, workforce development, and interdisciplinary practice. In her efforts to advance these values, she currently holds the position of Secretary General of the Secretariat of the World Health Organizations Collaborating Centers for Nursing and Midwifery, and Counsel General of the International Council on Women’s Health Issues. She has previously served on the Board of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health and is currently a member of the Board of Health Care Services for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Prof. Rebecca Lawton

Professor Rebecca Lawton, a behavioural scientist and NIHR Senior Investigator, serves as the Director of the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (PSTRC) and holds a chair at the University of Leeds in the Psychology of Healthcare.

She also leads the Improvement Science theme in the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) and serves as the academic lead for the Improvement Academy. Her work is grounded in theory and evidence.

With over 250 peer-reviewed articles and 45 grants, Professor Lawton is a leading figure in her field. She also plays a key role in maximising the societal impact of research within the School of Psychology.

Her current responsibilities include serving as the Director of the Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Translational Research Centre, Impact Lead for the School of Psychology, and Academic Director of the Improvement Academy. Her research interests lie in patient safety, and she leads a multidisciplinary team at the Bradford Institute of Health Research to deliver research, evaluation, and innovation projects in this area. She is also the Director of one of three NIHR-funded Patient Safety Translational Research Centres in England, a collaboration between the University of Leeds and Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust.

Dr. Carolyn Canfield, independent citizen-patient and Adjunct Professor Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine at The University of British Columbia in Canada

Carolyn Canfield works as a citizen-patient to expand partnerships with patients and caregivers across all facets of healthcare: professional education, services design, practice improvement, policy development, research and governance. 

Widowed in 2008 through healthcare tragedy led her to full-time activism, earning recognition in 2014 as Canada’s first Patient Safety Champion and faculty appointment to the Department of Family Practice at The University of British Columbia. Within the university, she actively supports the Patient and Community Partnership for Education, the Innovation Support Unit, the Centre for Health Education Scholarship, team-based care implementation, patient safety curriculum and teaching, learning environment improvement, and the Faculty of Medicine Admissions Sub-committee to recommend policy and select candidates for medical school.

Participation in provincial, national and international research includes roles as patient partner, co-researcher, advisor, grant adjudicator and journal manuscript reviewer. In 2017 Carolyn co-founded the independent peer-led Patient Advisors Network patientadvisors.ca to develop citizen-patient capacity and leadership. From 2019-2023 Carolyn supported the Resilience in Healthcare (RiH) project at the University of Stavanger as a member of the Expert Advisory Board.

Henk Parmentier - Prof Henk Parmentier, treasurer European Forum for Primary Care

Professor Henk Parmentier, Treasurer of the European Forum for Primary Care, is a practicing General Practitioner in South London with a special interest in Mental Health. He has trained both in The Netherlands and in the UK, where he finalized his GP training.

His main interest is the integration of Primary and Secondary Mental Health, social prescribing, the social determinants of health and Neurodiversity.

He is a founding member of the World Dignity Project, member of the World Organisation for Family Doctors, WONCA and the past treasurer for the World Federation for Mental Health, WFMH. He serves as an advisor, trainer and facilitator for charities in the Caribbean on topics of mental health, neurodiversity and safeguarding.

He currently holds the position of Clinical Lead Integrated Urgent Care in Croydon, Southwest London, Clinical Lead for Neurodiversity, Mental Health, Health Inequalities and Homelessness for the Croydon place Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Prof. Catherine Calderwood

Professor Catherine Calderwood FRCOG is a Scottish consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist and Professor of Health Futures at the University of Strathclyde. She continues to practice in maternal medicine. She was previously the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland from 2015 to 2020, the Government’s most senior medical advisor and lead for the medical profession. She drove healthcare reform across Scotland based on the programme she initiated: ‘Realistic Medicine’, a patient-centred approach emphasizing individual needs and preferences, prioritizing shared decision-making and evidence-based care. Calderwood’s compassionate commitment extends to addressing sensitive topics like stillbirth and sexual assault, fostering open dialogue and support, and destigmatising these issues, resulting in improved resources and policies for affected individuals. 

Prof. Boel Anderson Gare

Professor Boel Andersson Gäre, an esteemed Professor of Quality Improvement and Leadership at Jönköping University, also holds the position of a senior advisor in clinical and improvement research and education in Region Jönköping County. Her research is based in applied practice and revolves around quality, safety, and value, with a special focus on the lived experiences of those who are beneficiaries of health and welfare organizations. Boel Andersson’s immersion into research began during her period as a pediatric specialist, where she identified a significant gap between scientific understanding and its practical implementation.

Boel Andersson Gäre’s work in pediatric epidemiology and outcomes research led to the development of patient-reported outcomes. Her leadership roles exposed her to systematic improvement work in the Jönköping Region, expanding her research interests to improvement and value creation in health and welfare Finally, she has led numerous multidisciplinary research programs, fostering collective learning and bridging academia and practice. Also,  Professor Andersson Gäre co-founded the Jönköping Academy for Improvement of Health and Welfare and the European Centre for Co-production.

Prof. Charles Vincent
Professor of Psychology, University of Oxford
Emeritus Professor Clinical Safety Research, Imperial College London
Emeritus Fellow, Jesus College Oxford

Charles Vincent trained as a Clinical Psychologist and worked in the British NHS for several years. Since 1985 he has carried out research on the causes of harm to patients, the consequences for patients and staff and methods of improving the safety of healthcare.

He established the Clinical Risk Unit at University College in 1995 where he was Professor of Psychology before moving to the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College in 2002. He is the editor of Clinical Risk Management (BMJ Publications, 2nd edition, 2001), author of Patient Safety (2ned edition 2010) and author of many papers on medical error, risk and patient safety. With Rene Amalberti he published ‘Safer healthcare: strategies for the real world’ Springer, Open Access (2016). 

From 1999 to 2003 he was a Commissioner on the UK Commission for Health Improvement and has advised on patient safety in many inquiries and committees including the recent Berwick Review. In 2007 he was appointed Director of the National Institute of Health Research Centre for Patient Safety & Service Quality at Imperial College Healthcare Trust. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and Emeritus National Institute of Health Research Senior Investigator. In 2014 he took up a new most as Health Foundation professorial fellow in the Department of Psychology, University of Oxford where he continues his work on safety in healthcare and led the Oxford Region NHS Patient Safety Collaborative and was Director of Oxford Healthcare Improvement. 

Prof. Dr. Holger Pfaff

Professor of Quality Development and Evaluation in Rehabilitation

Director of the Institute of Medical Sociology, Health Services Research, and Rehabilitation Science

Director of the Center for Health Services Research Cologne (ZVFK), University of Cologne

Honorary Professor, Australian Institute for Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney

Ms Katherine de Bienassis - Health Policy Analyst, Health Division

Katherine de Bienassis is a Health Policy Analyst at the OECD and coordinator of the OECD Health Care Quality and Outcomes Working Party. Her work covers health system performance assessment, patient safety, patient-reported metrics, and health worker-reported outcomes and experiences. Prior to joining the OECD, Kate worked as a Senior Project Manager at the National Quality Forum (a U.S. based NGO), where her work focused on the evaluation and endorsement of healthcare quality and outcome measures for use in hospital settings, readmissions, cancer care, pediatrics, and cost and efficiency.

Kate previously held positions as Senior Program Associate with the CER Methods team of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (a U.S. based research funding organization) and as Program Coordinator of the Center for Global Development’s Global Health Team (a Washington, D.C. based think tank). Kate holds her MPH from Dartmouth College.

Martin Hatlie

Martin Hatlie is a a lawyer who graduated in Carleton College and Boston College Law School.

His role in healthcare is very relevant, and he is particularly known as the founder of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Patients for Patient Safety initiative. This initiative focuses on enhancing patient safety and healthcare quality globally through collaboration with patient advocates. Hatlie’s work focus on patient-centered care, involving patients in healthcare decisions, and amplifying patient voices in healthcare policies and practices. Martin Hatlie has been promoting patient safety awareness and shaping healthcare systems to prioritise patient well-being.

Martin Hatlie is participates in different advisory boards, and he is  the director of  the MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety, and CEO of a non-profit organisation called Project Patient Care aimimg to improve care through patients feedback.