Meshkati’s career at the University of Southern California has focused on human factors engineering—the study of how people interact with complex technology. His appointment comes as ECRI shifts its strategy toward SafeSystem Solutions, an initiative designed to move hospitals away from blaming individual errors and toward fixing the systemic flaws that allow those errors to happen. According to Marcus Schabacker, ECRI’s President and CEO, the healthcare industry often relies too heavily on individual vigilance, a habit Meshkati has spent his professional life dismantling in the aviation and nuclear power sectors.

Beyond his academic tenure, Meshkati brings a resume of oversight roles, including his work with the FAA’s independent panel on Boeing and his current chairmanship of the Diablo Canyon Independent Safety Committee. His transition to the healthcare board follows his eight-year tenure as a Commissioner for The Joint Commission. By integrating his expertise in safety culture, ECRI aims to scale its efforts to reduce preventable harm, treating hospitals with the same analytical scrutiny applied to nuclear refineries and flight decks.