Current Environment:

Research Overview

  Dr. Landrigan has led a series of major studies on the epidemiology of medical errors, and interventions designed to reduce their incidence. His most important work has been focused on developing reliable patient safety measurement tools, and improving the organization of residency programs and academic medical centers. His work on the relationship between resident work hours, sleep, and patient safety contributed to national changes in resident work hour standards. More recently, he led the development of I-PASS, a multi-faceted handoff and communication improvement program. He has authored over 150 publications in the medical literature, and has received numerous awards for his research, teaching, leadership, and innovation.

Research Background

Christopher P. Landrigan, MD, MPH is the Chief of General Pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, Director of the Sleep and Patient Safety Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the William Berenberg Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. He was a founding member of the Harvard Work Hours, Health, and Safety Group, and the founding chair of the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) Network, a collaboration of over 100 pediatric hospitals that conducts multi-center research and improvement projects.

Selected Publications

  1. Landrigan CP, Rothschild JM, Cronin JW, Kaushal R, Burdick E, Katz JT, Lilly CM, Stone PH, Lockley SW, Bates DW, Czeisler CA. Effect of reducing interns' work hours on serious medical errors in intensive care units. New Engl J Med. 2004;351(18):1838-1848.
  2. Rothschild JM, Landrigan CP, Cronin JW, Kaushal R, Lockley SE, Burdick E, Stone PH, Lilly CM, Katz JT, Czeisler CA, Bates DW. The Critical Care Safety Study: the incidence and nature of adverse events and near-misses in intensive care. Crit Care Med. 2005;33(8):1694-1700.
  3. Walsh KE, Adams WG, Bauchner H, Vinci RJ, Chessare JB, Cooper MR, Hebert PM, Schainker EG, Landrigan CP. Medication errors related to computerized order entry for children. Pediatrics. 2006;118(5):1872-1879.
  4. Landrigan CP, Barger LK, Cade BE, Ayas NT, Czeisler CA. Interns’ compliance with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education work-hour limits.  JAMA.2006;296(9):1063-1070.
  5. Fahrenkopf AM, Sectish TC, Barger LK, Sharek PJ, Lewin D, Chiang VW, Edwards S, Wiedermann BL, Landrigan CP. Rates of medication errors among depressed and burned out Residents: A prospective cohort study.  BMJ. 2008;336(7642):488-491. PMCID: PMC2258399.
  6. Landrigan CP, Fahrenkopf AM, Lewin D, Sharek PJ, Barger LK, Eisner M, Edwards S, Chiang VW, Wiedermann BL, Sectish TC. Effects of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education duty hour limits on sleep, work hours, and safety.  Pediatrics. 2008;122(2):250-258.
  7. Rothschild JM, Keohane CA, Rogers S, Gardner R, Lipsitz SR, Salzberg CA, Yu T, Yoon CS, Williams DH, Wien MF, Czeisler CA, Bates DW, Landrigan CP. Risks of complications by attending physicians after performing nighttime procedures.  JAMA. 2009;302(14):1565-1572.
  8. Starmer AJ, Sectish TC, Simon DW, Keohane C, McSweeney ME, Chung EY, Yoon CS, Lipsitz SR, Wassner AJ, Harper MB, Landrigan CP.  Rates of medical errors and preventable adverse events among hospitalized children following implementation of a resident handoff bundle. JAMA. 2013;310(21):2262-2270.
  9. Landrigan CP, Parry G, Bones CB, Hackbarth AD, Goldmann DA, Sharek PJ. Temporal trends in rates of patient harm due to medical care. New Engl J Med.2010;363(22):2124-2134.
  10. Sharek PJ, Parry G, Goldmann DA, Bones CB, Hackbarth AD, Rhoda D, Murphy C, Landrigan CP. Performance characteristics of a methodology to quantify adverse events over time in hospitalized patients.  Health Serv Res 2011; 46:654-678. PMCID: PMC3064924

Publications