Cynthia Barnard is Vice President, Quality for Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, an integrated academic health system of seven hospitals and four medical practice groups based in the Chicago metropolitan area, anchored by Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the academic medical center and principal clinical affiliate of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She has served on the faculty of the Northwestern University Master’s Program in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety since its inception a decade ago. She holds the first PhD awarded by Northwestern University in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety. She completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology at Bryn Mawr College and her MBA in Health Systems Management and Economics at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Her research interests center on patient engagement in quality and patient safety, and quality and safety measurement and improvement methods. She has held leadership roles in the National Association for Healthcare Quality, the Illinois Hospital Association, and serves on the board of Project Patient Care, and has published books and articles in healthcare quality, patient safety, ethics and policy.