Langston Center for Innovation in Quality and Safety
Promoting person-centered, population-focused and cost-effective initiatives designed to improve health care
Housed in the VCU School of Nursing and made possible with support from VCU Health, the Langston Center for Innovation in Quality and Safety is a collaborative forum for clinicians, educators, researchers, students and entrepreneurs to advance innovative approaches to complex health care problems with solutions that ensure a quality and safe consumer experience.
The center was founded with a $1.25 million gift from the VCU Health System and named in honor of honor Nancy Langston, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, ANEF, former dean of the VCU School of Nursing from 1991-2013. Through an affiliate scholars program, a student fellows program and events (including an annual speakers series), the center leads a unique array of opportunities to develop leadership, quality and safety science, decision and implementation science, and innovation.
- Mission: To be a premier resource network that advances innovative approaches to complex health care problems with solutions that ensure a quality and safe consumer experience.
- Vision: To empower interprofessional networks of clinicians, educators, researchers, students and entrepreneurs to transform health care through collaboration and science that impacts lives.
Functions
- Create models that bridge health care quality and safety, technology-driven innovation, and social and moral imperatives to optimize the human experience in health care
- Generate learning experiences around innovation, quality and safety, embracing learners from professional schools, local and regional health systems, innovators/entrepreneurs, the at-large community, and policy influencers
- Support the academic, research and practice missions of the VCU School of Nursing
- Generate funding to sustain and grow the center’s work in partnership with the development office and other resource providers
Signature Programs
The Langston Center is home to a vibrant interdisciplinary community of student fellows, faculty, clinicians, affiliate scholars, researchers and entrepreneurs that convene in various formats to learn together, exchange ideas and innovate solutions that address complex health care problems.
The center attracts local, regional and national interprofessional experts in one or more areas of innovation, quality and/or safety. In a culture of influence, positivity and urgency for high-impact change within health care, these scholars tackle vexing health problems that impact patients and populations and strategize to influence the rapid uptake of solutions. The scholars advise the center’s overall direction and help secure human and material resources to fulfill its mission.
Current Scholar Affiliates
- Kathy Baker
- Michael Bleich
- John Bowles
- Holly Buchanan
- Joel Bundy
- Mary Coffey
- Jayne Davey
- Joseph DeRanieri
- Salvador Gullo
- Terry Jones
- Robyn McDougle
- Alison Montpetit
- Mary Morin
- Joseph Napolitano
- Peter Pidcoe
- Ingrid Pretzer-Aboff
- Christopher Schreiner
- Shelly Smith
- AkkeNeel Talsma
- Trina Trimmer
- Garret Westlake
This program invites exceptional undergraduate nursing students to deepen their experience and develop their talents as tomorrow's nursing leaders and researchers. The program offers two tracks—leadership and research. Fellows share and engage in track-specific learning experiences, mentorship and community service to advance their development and receive developmental and financial support during the four-semester program.
| Fellows | Track |
|---|---|
| Samuel Gordon Cupper | Leadership |
| Thomas Taylor Green | Leadership |
| Ashley Koo | Research |
| Akilah Maya Manning | Research |
| Katherine Anne Nickels | Leadership |
| Casey Michelle Porter | Research |
The Bresenoff-Feierstein Innovation Series provides educational development for faculty, students and community providers. Top scholars in innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership offer state-of-the-science programs to empower changes in practice, policy and research; encourage innovation and creativity; and stimulate leadership best practices. The ultimate goal of this series is to advance consumer knowledge to effectively navigate and experience the health system.
Past Speakers
- James Pressler
- Michael Bleich
- Tom Ahrens
- Garret Westlake
- Bill Bishop
Through the generosity of Steve and Lisa Feierstein (B.S.'78/N), the Langston Center sponsors innovations grants for faculty and student innovators. The grant funds innovation and design-thinking to test and evaluate a prototype showing the potential for scalability. Given annually, the competitive award can support testing new care delivery models or enhancing a job role, improving decision-support for frontline health workers, enhancing referrals and/or improving care coordination, introducing a new product or technology to improve patient or community-based care, or enhancing the design of an existing technology to improve quality and safety.