Gerald B. Hickson is the Joseph C. Ross Chair of Medical Education and Administration, Professor of Pediatrics, and Founding Director of the Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy (CPPA) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Hickson joined the Department of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt in 1982. He served as Chief of the Division of General Pediatrics and Chief of Pediatric Outpatient Services from 1983 until 2003. In 2003, Dr. Hickson founded CPPA, and was appointed Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs. From 2005 – 2020, Dr. Hickson served as Director of Clinical Risk and Loss Prevention and from 2013 - 2020 as Senior Vice President of Quality, Safety and Risk Prevention for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. His work has resulted in over 200 peer review articles, chapters, invited commentaries and Podcast. In addition, Dr. Hickson has developed educational initiatives to promote disclosure of adverse events and medical errors, address behaviors that undermine a culture of safety, and promote and sustain high performing teams. Under his direction, the CPPA developed PARS® (Patient Advocacy Reporting System) and CORSsm (Coworker Observation Reporting System) programs that use unsolicited patient and coworker observations as the basis for tiered interventions supporting high-risk clinicians. The PARS® and CORSsm programs have been implemented in over 350 hospitals and health systems internationally. Dr. Hickson serves as immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He also serves on the Board of Directors of Keck (USC) Health System. Dr. Hickson received a BS from the University of Georgia and MD from Tulane University School of Medicine.