Dr. Gallagher is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in patient safety and transparency, serving as executive director of The Center for Harm Response, a joint initiative of the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute and the University of Washington. A practicing internal medicine physician and professor at the University of Washington, he has dedicated his career to transforming how healthcare organizations respond when patients are harmed, helping shift the national dialogue from defensiveness toward openness, healing and systemic learning. He is one of the country’s foremost experts in communication and resolution programs, and served as core faculty in the creation of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality “CANDOR” toolkit, one of the most widely disseminated resources for optimal communication after patient harm. Dr. Gallagher has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in journals, including JAMA and The New England Journal of Medicine, and contributed to the CMS patient safety structural measure as a member of its technical advisory panel. He received the “John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award” for individual achievement in 2017 and was named a Master of the American College of Physicians in 2019. As co-founder of the “Pathway to Accountability, Compassion and Transparency,” he continues to mentor organizations nationwide in principled, patient-centered harm response.
