
We’re celebrating our 10th year in 2025!
This event has featured hundreds of speakers and posters and provided the opportunity for novice and seasoned presenters alike to share their case studies and continuous improvement stories.
This year we will reflect on what we have learned from past conferences to help us shape improvement that is fit for the future. We will welcome back previous speakers and learn from others attending the event for the first time.
Meet the 2025 Speakers
The conference program is currently in development in line with conference themes. We are excited to confirm the following speakers to date:
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Kedar Mate, MD
Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer, Qualified Health AI
Kedar Mate, MD is the Founder & Chief Medical Officer of Qualified Health AI, a digital health company deploying the critical infrastructure needed to create the AI-enabled hospital of the future. Prior to his work at Qualified Health, Dr. Mate was the President and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the world’s leading international healthcare quality and patient safety organization. Widely published, with numerous honors, and over 25 years of healthcare leadership experience, Dr, Mate enjoys working on the persistent challenge of creating a safer, higher value health system, that everyone have access to and can enjoy.
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Ndidi Unaka, MD
Chief Health Equity Officer, Stanford Medicine - Children’s Health
Dr. Unaka is the inaugural Chief Health Equity Officer (CHEO) for Stanford Medicine Children’s Health (SMCH) and a Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. Prior to her transition to SMCH in July 2024, Dr. Unaka was a faculty member in the Division of Hospital Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. In addition to her clinical role as a pediatric hospitalist, Dr. Unaka served as the Associate Program Director of the Pediatric Residency Program from 2011 – January 2022. She served as the medical director of a 48- bed inpatient unit primarily for patients admitted to the Hospital Medicine service. In this role, Dr. Unaka was involved in several equity-oriented quality improvement initiatives which included work to identify, and address hunger among caregivers of hospitalized children insured by Medicaid.
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Niraj Sehgal, MD, MPH
EVP & Chief Physician Executive, Stanford Medicine - Health Care
Niraj Sehgal, MD, MPH, is the chief physician executive for Stanford Health Care. He is also a professor of medicine and senior associate dean for clinical affairs in the Stanford School of Medicine. Niraj’s clinical practice is focused in hospital medicine, while his academic career has been focused on studying and improving the quality and safety of care. The latter reinforces his commitment to emphasizing interprofessional teamwork, building multidisciplinary partnerships, developing health care leaders, and advocating for health equity.
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Paul Helgerson, MD
Hospitalist and Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine
Dr. Helgerson’s interests are in health care operations and leadership, with a particular passion for Lean Daily Management and its use in improving quality, safety, and teamwork in the inpatient environment. He is the recipient of the 2021 Dean’s Award for Clinical Excellence, largely in recognition of efforts toward inpatient COVID response during the pandemic during which time he was the Medical Director of the Acute Care COVID unit(s) at UVA. Dr. Helgerson is a Virginia native. He was a Duke undergraduate and received his MD at Georgetown University and went on to internal medicine residency and Chief Residency at Stanford. Prior to his return to his home state, he served in various leadership roles in hospital medicine, medical education, and in quality and process improvement at the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System.
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Ashley Gambhir
Executive Director of Transformation, UC San Diego Health
Ashley Gambhir is the Executive Director for Healthcare Transformation at the University of California San Diego Health. Her role involves gathering insights and ideas from more than 14,000 employees, and helping to turn those into concrete innovations within the nonprofit healthcare organization. Her role involves leading a portfolio of significant organizational changes. This includes leading process improvement, innovation management, project management, and operational teams supporting digital enablement, such as telehealth, and improving operational effectiveness. Her focus is on supporting a culture of problem solving through enhanced systems and structures.
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Kiame Mahaniah, MD
Undersecretary for Health, Massachusetts
In April 2023, Dr. Mahaniah joined Secretary Walsh’s team as the Undersecretary for Health. His portfolio includes the Department of Public Health, the Department of Mental health and MassHealth, dovetailing with his interests in health care systems and the patient experience. A practicing physician in the field of addiction and primary care, Dr. Mahaniah has most recently served as CEO of the Lynn Community Health Center, where he led the transition into value-based care. An avid teacher and committed mentor, he is an Assistant Professor in the Family Medicine department of the Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Mahaniah holds an MBA from UMass Amherst, a medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University and a BA from Haverford College.
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Lane Donnelly, MD
Chief Quality & Safety Officer, University of North Carolina Children’s Hospital
Lane F. Donnelly MD is a Professor of Radiology & Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He also serves as the Executive Medical Director of Pediatric Population Health & Quality for the UNC Health Alliance, Chief Quality & Safety Officer for UNC Children’s, Vice Chair of Quality & Safety for the Department of Pediatrics, and Associate Vice Chair of Quality & Safety for the Department of Radiology. Dr. Donnelly has been an NIH funded researcher, has published over 310 peer review manuscripts that have been cited over 14,300 times (h-index 63, i10-index 200). He has authored multiple textbooks, including Pediatric Imaging: The Fundamentals, which has sold over 25,000 copies. He has held previous leadership roles at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the Nemours Foundation, Texas Children’s Hospital, and Stanford University.
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Sean Paul Teeling, PhD
Assistant Professor Health Systems/ Mater Lean Academy, University College Dublin
Seán Paul Teeling (PhD) is a Lecturer, Researcher and Fellow in Teaching and Academic Development at University College Dublin, Ireland. He lectures and researches in person-centred process improvement and has received teaching excellence awards at both college and university level. Over the last eight years, he has collaborated with both clinical practice and research based colleagues in the development of a person-centred model of Lean Six Sigma, officially launched in 2023, and now in use in healthcare facilities in six countries. Dr Teeling is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, an accredited facilitator of Person-centred Cultures in Healthcare, and is an honorary senior research fellow with the Centre for Person-Centred Practice Research, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland. His research focuses on the impacts of improvement on all involved in care delivery, both patients and staff.
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Carlos Frederico Pinto, MD
Consultant & Senior Advisor, Lean Institute Brazil
Dr. Fred is a recognized healthcare leader with a focus on improving patient care through lean principles. He has served in key leadership roles at prominent healthcare hospitals and organizations, including the Instituto de Oncologia do Vale (IOV), where he led a multi-decade lean transformation.
Dr. Fred has authored multiple books and articles and is a renowned international speaker. His books, "In Search of the Perfect Care" (2014) and "System's Architect Manifesto" (2024), published by the Lean Institute Brasil, have further solidified his position as a thought leader in the field.
Currently, he serves as a consultant and Senior Advisor at the Lean Institute Brazil, Faculty for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in leadership development projects, Chair of the International Quality Steering Group for the Care Delivery Committee at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
He also holds board positions at the Quality Global Alliance and the Center for Radiation Oncology (CENON – Oncologia D’Or).
Conference Schedule & Key Dates
Conference Schedule & Key Dates
Conference Schedule
September 10-11, 2025
Plenary, Delegate & Poster Sessions
September 12, 2025
Post-Conference Morning Workshops
Workshop 1: Building a Health Equity Measurement Framework to Drive System-Level Change
Facilitated by: Ndidi Unaka, MD, Med, Chief Health Equity Officer, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and team
Workshop 2: Person-Centered Improvement: Enhancing Lean Practice with a Person-centered model
Facilitated by Seán Paul Teeling PhD, Assistant Professor Health Systems / Mater Lean Academy, University College of Dublin CD, Ireland and team
Workshop 3: Building Capability and Capacity for Local Level Improvement – the Importance of the Socio-Technical System
Facilitated by Denise Bennett, CEO & Coach, Lean Enterprise Australia and team

We are excited to share that we have partnered with the Sheraton Palo Alto to offer you comfortable and convenient accommodations during your time at the conference.
As part of this partnership, conference rates are now available for stays until August 18th. Book now to take advantage of the special rate!
Continuing Medical Information
ACCREDITATION
In support of improving patient care, Stanford Medicine is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
CREDIT DESIGNATION
American Medical Association (AMA)
Stanford Medicine designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 13.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
Stanford Medicine designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 13.50 ANCC contact hours.







