Forum on Engineering a Resilient Healthcare System
Wednesday, April 16th, 2025
Forum on Engineering a Resilient Healthcare System
Date: Wednesday, April 16th, 2025 from 8 am - 5 pm EDT
Location: 900 N Glebe Rd, Arlington, VA on the second floor
About the Event
Sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering and hosted by Virginia Tech, the Forum on Engineering a Resilient Health System will bring together multi-disciplinary expertise from health, engineering, economics and behavioral and social sciences to formulate evidence-based approaches to address challenges and envision ways forward to fostering a unifiable complex health system, despite the economic, cultural and social roots of fragmentation.
A resilient health system relies on processes, resources, and engineering systems that assure the health and well-being of people at all levels of the ecosystem, ranging from hospitals to homes. A good system would achieve these goals. State-of-the-art medical practices are necessary, but not sufficient for success. All processes must be integrated to provide effective, efficient, safe and secure operations and outcomes. This presents substantial challenges in the highly fragmented US health system.
The Forum on Engineering a Resilient Health System will convene perspectives from health, engineering, economics and behavioral and social sciences to consider challenges and paths forward to fostering a unifiable health system rooted in resilience.
Establish a Shared Understanding – Define healthcare system resilience, explore key frameworks, and examine real-world examples.
Identify Challenges & Opportunities – Analyze current barriers to resilience and uncover opportunities for improvement.
Generate Innovative Solutions – Brainstorm and develop actionable ideas to enhance resilience in healthcare.
Foster Collaboration & Networking – Build a connected community of stakeholders committed to advancing healthcare resilience.
Peter Beling, PhD – Virginia Tech National Security Institute
Guru Madhavan – National Academy of Engineering Forum on Complex Unifiable Systems
Jonathan Perlin – President and CEO, The Joint Commission
When healthcare is not safe, secure, effective, or efficient
Moderator
- William Yurcik – Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Panelists
- Andreas Schick – Director of Economics, US Food and Drug Administration
- Monique K. Mansoura – Executive Director, Global Health Security & Biotechnology, MITRE
- Natalie Sulivan – DC VAMC ED Site Director, George Washington University Hospital
- Patricia McGaffigan – Senior Advisor, Safety; President, Certification Board for Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
Resilience examples and lessons learned from aviation safety, nuclear power, defense, and other domains of relevance to healthcare
Moderator
- Christopher Hart – CEO, Hart Solutions, LLC
Panelists
- Sir Brian Collins – Emeritus Professor, University College London
- Tim Persons – AI Leader and Principal, Price Waterhouse Coopers
- O. Sami Saydjari – Research Scientist/Analyst/Engineer, Department of Computer Science, Dartmouth College
- Greg Zacharias – Chief Scientist, US Air Force
Discussion of the opportunities for building resilience into existing healthcare systems
Moderator
- Kathryn Bowles - Professor of Nursing and van Ameringen Chair in Nursing Excellence, University of Pennsylvania
Panelists
- Denis Cortese – Health Solutions Ambassador, Arizona State University
- Ravi Thadhani – Executive Vice President for Health A airs, Emory University
- Greg Pluta – Executive Director, External Partnerships, Computer Science Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Joe Bonvie –Senior Director of Clinical Services Instructor, Harvard Medical School | Captain, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Actionable near-term proposals, including key stakeholders and resources
Moderator
- William Rouse - Professor Emeritus, Georgia Tech and Georgetown University
Panelists
- Ken Thorpe – Professor, Emory University
- Brian McCarthy – Operating Partner, AI & Digital Platforms, Chicago Pacific Founders
- John Gilligan – President and CEO, Center for Internet Security
- George Poste – Chief Scientist & Regents Professor, Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative, Arizona State University
William Rouse – Professor Emeritus, Georgia Tech and Georgetown University