Our Team
Leadership
Daniel J. Crossman, MD
- Lead for Weill Cornell Medicine
Maureen Kelly, MD
- Director, Quality and Patient Safety, Department of Medicine
I-Fong Lehman, DrPH, MS
- Director, Center for Patient Safety Research
Dr. Lehman is the Director of the Center for Patient Safety Research where she is responsible for overall operations including grant and contract activities. Previously, she was the Director of Quality and Patient Safety at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University overseeing Columbia Milstein, The Allen Hospital and Lawrence Hospital. Prior to joining NYPH, she was the Director of Clinical Communities at The Johns Hopkins’ Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. She earned her DrPH in Health Policy and Management from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and her MS in Health Policy and Administration from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Staff
Yelstin Fernandes, BS
- Programmer
Yelstin joined the Center for Patient Safety Research in 2018 as a Programmer. He is responsible for organizing, analyzing, and leveraging healthcare data in order to develop programmatic tools that support the team's ongoing research and operational duties. Yelstin comes from a background in biology research holding a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Rochester. Additionally, he was exposed to patient care and safety as an EMT-B, and began to code as a hobby. He is excited to now be using data analytics to reduce medical errors. In his spare time Yelstin enjoys baseball, cooking, and travel.
Neha Thummala, MPH
- Program Coordinator
Neha joined the Center for Patient Safety Research in 2021 as a Program Coordinator. She is responsible for supporting various research-related activities, including project coordination of research studies and submissions to the IRB. Neha graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a BA in Public Health Studies and received her MPH in Epidemiology from Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in 2021.
Patient Safety Research Fellows (AHRQ T32)
Anne Grauer, MD, MS
- (2020-2023)
Dr. Grauer is a third year Patient Safety Research Fellow. She graduated from The Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in 2016. Dr. Grauer then went on to complete her internship at NYU School of Medicine and residency at New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center in 2020. Her research interests include telehealth, patient safety, EHR optimization and the use of Clinical Decision Support tools in the inpatient and outpatient realm.
Donald E. Dietz, MD
- (2021-2023)
Dr. Dietz is a 2nd Year Fellow in the Patient Safety Research Program. He graduated from SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in 2014 and completed his internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center in 2017. He also worked as a hospitalist for two years at UCLA-David Geffen School of Medicine and then returned to Columbia for fellowship in infectious diseases, which concluded in 2021. His research interests lie at the intersection of infectious diseases and patient safety, including improving methods of antimicrobial and diagnostic stewardship and reducing hospital-acquired infections.
Amanda Esteves, MD
- (2021-2023)
Dr. Esteves is a 2nd Year Pediatric Patient Safety Research Fellow. She graduated from Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in 2017 and completed her pediatric residency at NewYork Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center in 2020. She stayed at Columbia for an additional year as Pediatric Chief Resident. Her interest are the intersection of patient safety and health equity in the outpatient general pediatric setting with a particular focus on early childhood.
Benjamin L. Ranard, MD, MSHP
- (2021-2023)
Dr. Ranard is a second year Patient Safety Research Fellow as well as a Chief Fellow in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He received his Doctor of Medicine and Master of Science in Health Policy Research from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in 2016. He completed his Internal Medicine internship and residency at Duke University Medical Center in 2019. His research interests include sepsis quality and outcomes, electronic health record optimization, clinical decision support, alert fatigue, and care redesign.
Junior Faculty Training (ECRIP)
Danielle Carter, MD, MS
- (2022-2024)
Dr. Carter is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Medicine. Prior to this she obtained her medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center in 2020. She was a Patient Safety Research Fellow from 2020-2022 where she did work related to patient safety during the COVID-19 epidemic and prevention of hospital acquired infections. She also obtained a MS in Epidemiology from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She is currently supported by the Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program to continue research related to clinical decision support and health IT safety.
Jerard Z. Kneifati-Hayek, MD, MS
- (2022-2024)
Dr. Kneifati-Hayek was the inaugural Patient Safety Research Fellow at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He graduated from Weill Cornell Medicine in 2014 and completed residency at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell in 2017. He completed his Patient Safety Research fellowship in 2020 and went on to join the faculty at Columbia University Irving Medical Center Department of Medicine, Division of General Medicine as an Assistant Professor. He now serves as an Assistant Director of Quality and Patient Safety for the Department of Medicine, the faculty advisor to the NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia Housestaff Quality Council, the Co-Chair of the NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia Patient Safety Working group, a member of the founding Board of Directors of the Vagelos Physicians & Surgeons Latino Association, and a member of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center Institutional Review Board. During his time as faculty Dr. Kneifati-Hayek has received a National Institute of Health Loan Repayment Award and is currently an Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program Fellow at NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia.
Pooja Reddy, MD, MS
- (2022-2024)
Dr. Pooja Reddy is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and an Attending Pediatrician at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. She practices in the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation.
Prior to her faculty appointment, Dr. Reddy earned a BA in Economics from the University of Virginia prior to pursuing her medical education at Emory University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore and clinical fellowships in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Advanced Transplant Hepatology at NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center. During this time, she pursued funded formal training in Patient Safety Research and earned a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Dr. Reddy’s clinical practice is focused on the management of pediatric patients with a range of liver diseases including neonatal cholestasis, biliary atresia, rare metabolic diseases, viral hepatitis, liver tumors including hepatoblastoma, and autoimmune liver disease. She has completed advanced training in the management of pediatric liver and intestinal failure and is experienced in caring for patients both prior to and after undergoing liver, intestinal and multi-visceral transplants. Dr. Reddy performs several procedures including percutaneous liver biopsy, endoscopy, variceal band-ligation, and colonoscopy. While caring for patients, she aims to educate both her patients and their families as they work together toward shared decision-making and optimal treatment outcomes.
During Dr. Reddy’s time as a Patient Safety Research Fellow, she focused on utilizing health information technology to prevent medical errors and improve the quality and efficiency with which patient care is delivered. She is currently supported by the Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program (ECRIP) to continue her work with Dr. Jason Adelman MD, MS to detect and ultimately prevent order errors in computerized order entry systems by evaluating the accuracy of an automated wrong-dose detection measure.
Past Patient Safety Research Fellows (AHRQ T32)
Jerard Z. Kneifati-Hayek, MD, MS
- (2018 – 2020)
Dr. Kneifati-Hayek was the inaugural Patient Safety Research Fellow at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He graduated from Weill Cornell Medicine in 2014 and completed residency at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell in 2017. He completed his Patient Safety Research fellowship in 2020 and went on to join the faculty at Columbia University Irving Medical Center Department of Medicine, Division of General Medicine as an Assistant Professor. He now serves as an Assistant Director of Quality and Patient Safety for the Department of Medicine, the faculty advisor to the NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia Housestaff Quality Council, the Co-Chair of the NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia Patient Safety Working group, a member of the founding Board of Directors of the Vagelos Physicians & Surgeons Latino Association, and a member of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center Institutional Review Board. During his time as faculty Dr. Kneifati-Hayek has received a National Institute of Health Loan Repayment Award and is currently an Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program Fellow at NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia.
Pooja Reddy, MD, MS
- (2019-2021)
Dr. Pooja Reddy is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and an Attending Pediatrician at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. She practices in the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation.
Prior to her faculty appointment, Dr. Reddy earned a BA in Economics from the University of Virginia prior to pursuing her medical education at Emory University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore and clinical fellowships in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Advanced Transplant Hepatology at NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center. During this time, she pursued funded formal training in Patient Safety Research and earned a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Dr. Reddy’s clinical practice is focused on the management of pediatric patients with a range of liver diseases including neonatal cholestasis, biliary atresia, rare metabolic diseases, viral hepatitis, liver tumors including hepatoblastoma, and autoimmune liver disease. She has completed advanced training in the management of pediatric liver and intestinal failure and is experienced in caring for patients both prior to and after undergoing liver, intestinal and multi-visceral transplants. Dr. Reddy performs several procedures including percutaneous liver biopsy, endoscopy, variceal band-ligation, and colonoscopy. While caring for patients, she aims to educate both her patients and their families as they work together toward shared decision-making and optimal treatment outcomes.
During Dr. Reddy’s time as a Patient Safety Research Fellow, she focused on utilizing health information technology to prevent medical errors and improve the quality and efficiency with which patient care is delivered. She is currently supported by the Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program (ECRIP) to continue her work with Dr. Jason Adelman MD., MS. to detect and ultimately prevent order errors in computerized order entry systems by evaluating the accuracy of an automated wrong-dose detection measure.
Danielle Carter, MD, MS
- (2020-2022)
Dr. Carter is a clinical research fellow within the Division of General Medicine. She graduated from University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center in 2020. Her research interests include patient safety, reducing hospital acquired infections, and health IT systems.
Amanda Rosen, MD, MS
- (2020-2022)
Dr. Rosen is a 2022 graduate of the Patient Safety fellowship. She graduated from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in 2017 and completed her internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian- Columbia University Medical Center in 2020. During her time in the fellowship, she led projects related to patient safety during COVID and physician moral injury. She is currently a Pulmonary/Critical Care fellow at New York Presbyterian- Weill Cornell.
Collaborators
- Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality
- Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice
- ECRI Institute Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement/National Patient Safety Foundation
- Institute for Safe Medication Practices
- Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine
- NYP Analytics (formerly the Value Institute), NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Program Advisors
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
- Donald Landry, MD, PhD
- Graham Barr, MD, DrPH
- George Hripcsak, MD, MS
- Steven Shea, MD, MS
- Melissa Stockwell, MD, MPH
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
- Peter M. Fleischut, MD
- Deepa Kumaraiah, MD, MBA
Weill Cornell Medicine
- Yiye Zhang, PhD, MS
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
- William Southern, MD, MS
Brigham and Women's Hospital
- David W. Bates, MD, MS
- Patricia C. Dykes, PhD, MA, RN
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Hojjat Salmasian, MD, PhD
Johns Hopkins University
- Allen Chen, MD
- Albert Wu, MD, MPH
Mothers Against Medical Error
- Helen Haskell, MA