Carol is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Executive Director of the new Centre for Heath System Innovation at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She is also a visiting Professor at the University of Bath (UK) Centre for Health Innovation and Improvement. Prior to moving to USC Carol was an Associate Medical Director for Clinical Quality for NHS England and a Consultant in Anesthesia and Intensive Care at the Royal United Hospitals, Bath UK. Carol developed her expertise in quality improvement as a Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).
Dr Peden has led quality improvement projects internationally for example as perio-operative lead for the Danish Hospital Patient Safety program from 2010-2012 and ICU lead for the South West England quality and safety program 2009-2014. Carol continues to work with IHI, most recently she taught their Accelerated Patient Safety Course for the Australia and New Zealand Faculty of Emergency Medicine. Carol has a number of major research grants and projects on quality and safety. She has also served in governance roles in the UK and internationally. Recent research projects in the UK include co-founding the emergency laparotomy network and designing and delivering the quality improvement program for the 90 hospital “EPOCH” study to improve outcomes in high risk surgical patients.
Carol is an author of multiple papers, national standards and two books including the Audit and Quality Improvement guide for the Royal College of Anaesthetists, UK. Carol has been awarded the Humphry Davy Medal and the Macintosh Professorship by the Royal College of Anaesthetists, UK and is the 2016 Ellis Gillespie Professor and Visitor of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthestists. Her research interests include clinical quality improvement, improving peri-operative outcomes particularly in the elderly patient, using data for improvement, designing safer clinical systems, and communication in healthcare.
Dr Peden has a medical degree and research doctorate in medicine from the University of Edinburgh UK. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine and the Faculty of Medical Leaders and Managers, UK. She has an MPH in clinical effectiveness from Harvard University.