Dr. Carmen E. Gonzalez is a professor of internal medicine and chief patient safety officer at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. Gonzalez is certified by the American College of Medical Quality and obtained a Master of Science degree in healthcare quality and safety from Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her main research interest is in the science of quality improvement and patient safety. Quality improvement processes, organizational development, providing the best evidence-based patient care in a safe environment and improving patient satisfaction are Dr. Gonzalez's passions in serving the MD Anderson community. She fosters improvements in cancer patients' care and those with oncologic emergencies in the Acute Cancer Care Center. During COVID-19, she led the COVID-19 safety triage center, a system developed to monitor and mitigate safety concerns reported by frontline staff and unit managers. During the national Type O blood shortage, Dr. Gonzalez led a project that resulted in the development of a blood shortage decision matrix, which resulted in a daily awareness to guide the management of limited resources while keeping patients safe.

Her research work and publications have been on pneumonia in cancer patients, sepsis, organizational process improvement, healthcare handoffs, end-of-life issues in patients with cancer and diagnostic errors, among others. She presents her work nationally and internationally.

Dr. Gonzalez currently leads the Patient Safety Quality Officer Program of 134 advanced practice professionals, physicians, PharmDs and trainees who are leaders in safety and quality. She co-leads various institutional safety/quality initiatives, including high-reliability organizing, the tiered readiness briefing, the patient safety officer on-call and the patient safety incident command. She directs the actionable finding vigilance unit, a safety net for diagnostic excellence.