Presenter

Kristen is a Human Factors and Systems Engineer in the Patient Safety Department where she spends her days trying to make complicated healthcare systems a little less, well… complicated. With a deep commitment to human-centered design, Kristen’s work focuses on enhancing communication, fostering shared mental models, and addressing systems-level causes of safety issues to ensure practical, scalable solutions. As Chair of the Human Factors Transforming Healthcare network, Kristen collaborates with organizations including Solutions for Patient Safety, Patient Safety Organizations, and more than 30 hospitals to advance patient safety initiatives and create educational opportunities. Kristen is a winner of the Bob Wears Early Career Award in Patient Safety and Mentor of the Year Award. Her holistic approach leverages interdisciplinary principles to make healthcare systems safer and more efficient, ensuring that patients and staff can thrive in environments designed to support their needs. When she’s not untangling complex systems, she’s usually untangling husky fur from her clothes, struggling up a rock wall, or stitching something together with needle and thread.