Ulfat Shaikh recognized by Becker’s Healthcare as patient safety expert

Ulfat Shaikh has been recognized by Becker’s Healthcare as one of its “146 Patient Safety Experts to Know in 2026,” a national honor recognizing leaders advancing safer, higher-quality care across the health care industry.

The annual list highlights experts from hospitals, health systems and health care organizations nationwide whose work is shaping patient safety practices, quality improvement and outcomes through leadership, education and innovation.

Becker’s recognized Shaikh for her longstanding contributions to patient safety education, systems-based care and quality improvement initiatives at the local, state and national levels.

At UC Davis Health, Shaikh leads patient safety education within the graduate medical education program, helping train approximately 900 residents, fellows and supervising clinicians in systems thinking, root cause analysis and data-driven approaches to care improvement. A professor of pediatrics, she is the director of quality and patient safety for graduate medical education.

Shaikh founded and chairs the UC Davis Health Annual Quality Forum, now in its 16th year, and directs the organization’s quality improvement training program, which recently marked its 10th year. Both programs have become key components of UC Davis Health’s broader efforts to advance high reliability principles, patient-centered care and clinical excellence.

Her influence extends nationally and internationally through leadership roles in several major organizations focused on patient safety and quality improvement. Shaikh currently chairs the Council on Quality Improvement and Patient Safety for the American Academy of Pediatrics and serves on the board of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare, where she leads the organization’s North America community of practice.