Matthew Weinger, M.D., professor of Anesthesiology, Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, has been chosen to receive the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) Foundation’s top honor, the Laufman-Greatbatch Award.
The award honors contributions to the advancement of medical instrumentation, service, patient care or patient safety.
Weinger directs the Vanderbilt Center for Research and Innovation in Systems Safety, as well as serves as a physician at the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System. He has been teaching and conducting research in patient safety, human factors engineering and clinical decision making for more than two decades.
Weinger is also the Norman Ty Smith Professor of Patient Safety and Medical Simulation. Smith was a pioneer in medical simulation, computer modeling and medical instrumentation and was Weinger’s mentor early in his career. In 2012, Weinger was elected a fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society in recognition of his achievements. He has received nearly $7 million in direct research support from federal agencies and major non-profit foundations, and he has authored more than 150 publications.
“This is a much-deserved honor that recognizes Matt’s substantial contributions to improving patient safety throughout his career,” said Warren Sandberg, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Anesthesiology. “Matt is known throughout the United States as the voice of authority when it comes to quality improvement and issues of safety enhancement in the clinical environment. This award acknowledges his reputation.”
A Vanderbilt faculty member since 2004, Weinger has made significant contributions to improving patient handovers, developing the University’s medical simulation training into a world-class center of excellence and in identifying and addressing specific patient safety issues.
Weinger is a member of the Board of Directors of AAMI, is the associate editor for Health and Health Systems for the journal Human Factors and is on the editorial board of Simulation in Healthcare. He is also the secretary of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation and has served as an adviser for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
The Laufman-Greatbatch Prize is named for Harold Laufman, M.D., and Wilson Greatbatch, Ph.D., two of the nation’s most renowned pioneers in the medical device field. This award will be presented to Weinger at the AAMI Annual Conference & Expo in June.
