Timothy McDonald is the chief patient safety and risk officer for RLDatix and a professor of law at Loyola University, Chicago. McDonald is a physician-attorney who has assisted more than 800 hospitals and health systems implement a culture of normalized compassionate honesty combined with fair and accountable culture transformation. His research has focused on conducting patient safety, just culture and high reliability needs assessment/gap analysis for organizations. He has also assisted organizations in the principled approach to unexpected events with an emphasis on reporting of patient safety events, the use of simulation and human factors analysis, the provision of emotional first aid to affected health care team members and providing open and honest communication following harm events. He has received numerous national and international patient safety awards including the American College of Medical Quality’s Founder’s Award, the Institute of Medicine, Chicago’s Patient Safety Award and the Medically Induced Trauma Support Services (MITSS) Hope Award.