D. Kirk Hamilton, PhD, EDAC, FCCM, Emeritus FAIA & FACHA
Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M University
Founding Co-Editor, Health Environments Research & Design (HERD)
Kirk is the Julie & Craig Beale Endowed Professor of Health Facility Design at Texas A&M University where he has taught healthcare design at the graduate level since 2004. His academic research is about the relationship of evidence-based health facility design to measurable organizational performance. His five-year professional Bachelor of Architecture is from the University of Texas in Austin. His Master’s Degree in Organization Development is from Pepperdine University, and he completed a PhD in Nursing & Healthcare Innovation at Arizona State University, studying nurse movement patterns and interaction with objects in the ICU patient room.
A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, he is board certified by the American College of Healthcare Architects with 30 years of active practice prior to joining Texas A&M. He is only the second architect advanced to Fellowship in the American College of Critical Care Medicine. He is a founding principal emeritus of Houston’s WHR Architects (now EYP Health) with healthcare projects in 20 states and eight other countries. He has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from ACHA and the Changemaker Award from the Center for Health Design.
A frequent author and presenter, he is a founding co-editor of the peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary Health Environments Research & Design Journal (HERD) now in its 12th year. His most recent books include 2017’s Area Calculation Method for Health Care with co-editor Sarel Lavy; Rigor & Research-Informed Design: A Decade’s Advocacy in 2013; Design for Critical Care: An Evidence-Based Approach with co-author Mardelle Shepley in 2010; and Evidence-Based Design for Multiple Building Types with co-author David Watkins in 2009. “Design of Operating Theatres for Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery,” authored with Bill Rostenberg in 2015, appears in Alston, Myles & Ranucci’s, Cardiac Anaesthesia from Oxford University Press.
Since November 2010, Kirk Hamilton is a Director Emeritus for The Center for Health Design.
Andrew M. Ibrahim, MD, MSc
Co-Director, Center for Healthcare Outcomes & Policy, University of Michigan
Senior Principal and Chief Medical Officer, HOK
Andrew M. Ibrahim, MD, MSc, is a senior principal and chief medical officer for HOK’s Healthcare practice. A surgeon and assistant professor of surgery, architecture and urban planning at the University of Michigan, Dr. Ibrahim leverages his expertise in surgery, architecture and clinical care to collaborate with HOK’s Healthcare planning and design teams to create forward-looking solutions that address society’s most urgent health challenges.
Dr. Ibrahim received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Case Western Reserve University with a year of coursework at The Bartlett School of Architecture in London. He received additional training in healthcare delivery and policy as a Crile Fellow at Princeton University, a Doris Duke Fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital and as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan.
His research has led to numerous articles and book chapters in publications including the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Catalyst. Speaking engagements have taken him across the world for invited lectures hosted by organizations including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), New Zealand’s Institute for Innovation and Improvement and France’s IRCAD Institute.
Lisa Sundahl Platt, Ph.D., M.S., CSSBB, EDAC, LEED AP BD+C
Assistant Professor Interior Design | FIBER Research Faculty
Director, Integrative Prevention through Design Lab
Lisa Sundahl Platt's firm is a Human Experience research and Innovation Management solution provider that works with US and International health, wellness, and continuing care organizations seeking to implement transformational change. Her expertise is in working with cross-functional quality and performance improvement teams to facilitate process optimization and to increase product and service delivery efficiency, safety, and outcome reliability. Lisa has served as a research primary investigator and authored several publications related to the impact of systems on human health and well-being.
She holds a Masters of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and is nearing completion of her Doctorate in Systems Science with a Health Systems Engineering focus at SUNY Binghamton. Her research concentration is on Human Factors and Population Health systems resilience. She is an ASQ Certified Six-Sigma Black Belt expert in Lean and Statistical Process Control of healthcare service and product delivery processes. Her professional background includes over twenty-five years of tenure in the field of organizational strategy, human development, and environmental planning and sustainability management. She currently holds professional licenses with the States of Tennessee and Florida Boards for Architecture, Engineering and Design regulation, Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification with The Center for Health Design, and is a US Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional for Building Design and Construction.
Walt Vernon, PE, LEED AP, EDAC
Principal & CEO, Mazzetti and Sextant Foundation
Walt is the CEO for Mazzetti. He has 30 years of experience in the research, planning, and design of healthcare facilities. Walt serves on the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Hospital Engineers, the board of Healthcare International, and the Facility Guidelines Institute. He was also the principal author for WHO’s Health in the Green Economy. He has worked on healthcare projects around the world, including pro-bono projects in Haiti, Burundi, Sierra Leone, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, the Philippines, and South Africa.
Currently, Walt serves on the Electrical Systems Technical Committee for National Fire Protection Agency 99 and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 188, is the Vice Chair for ASHRAE 189.3, and is an active member of The Center for Health Design’s Research Coalition and Built Environment Network.
Taft Cleveland, Assoc. AIA, Assoc. APA, LEED GA, NOMA
Associate Healthcare Planner, SmithGroup
Taft Cleveland is a highly skilled and creative healthcare design professional with 20 years experience in healthcare functional and space programming, strategic facilities planning, clinical transitioning services for new facilities, urban design and master planning. Taft is actively involved in topics of social justice, health equity and inclusion. He serves as one of fifteen members of SmithGroup’s global J.E.D.I. committee, working towards creating a more equitable work culture for the firm.
In 2022, Taft was recognized as Healthcare Design Magazine’s HCD 10: Industry MVP Award along with Espy Harper and Dr. Tammy Thompson for his exploration grant entitled the Community Achievement Racial Equity (C.A.R.E.) Framework. The framework provides actionable and measurable steps health systems may employ to serve leaders in addressing health equity. Through the C.A.R.E. Framework, industry members can now act on health equity design and break the cycle of health disparities by influencing access to education, healthy foods, and safe communities.
Yolanda Keys, PhD, DHA, RN, NEA-BC, EDAC
Research Associate, The Center for Health Design
Yolanda Keys is a registered nurse and brings over 25 years of nursing experience that has included roles as a clinician, leader and academician. With doctorates in healthcare administration and nursing, her research focuses on nurse leaders and healthy work environments – especially the built environment. She is an active member of the Nursing Institute for Health Design (NIHD), serving as president in 2017 and acting as an NIHD liaison for The Center’s Knowledge Repository for many years. She brings a clinical perspective to the research team, as well as a deep understanding of the important contribution nurses can have during planning and design.