BENJAMIN P. SACHS

Senior Vice President of Tulane University and Dean, School of Medicine
The Doty Distinguished Professor

Before joining Tulane University in November 2007, Dr. Benjamin Sachs held several senior administrative positions at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), including Chief, Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Harold H. Rosenfield Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (HMS). He also served as a professor in the Department of Society, Human Development and Health in the Faculty of Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health. He was the elected President of the BIDMC Physician Organization, an organization of 1,500 physicians for three terms.

While at Harvard, Sachs helped create the research team led by Dr. Ananth Karumanchi that discovered the probable cause of preeclampsia, one of the leading causes of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity worldwide. The team also developed a new diagnostic test that is currently being evaluated in the USA and internationally by the World Health Organization. This research has been widely published, including in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Nature Medicine, and the story told in The New Yorker.

Internationally renowned for his work in improving patient care and reducing medical errors, Sachs’ team at the BIDMC’s Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology received the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Health Care Excellence Award in 2007 for exceptional achievement in improving the safety and effectiveness of health care. Also in 2007, they received the John M. Eisenberg national award for patient safety and quality from The Joint Commission - National Quality Forum. Both awards recognize the team’s groundbreaking approach to reducing medical errors. Their work on team training - crew resource management was funded by the Department of Defense and Harvard’s Risk Management Foundation.

Watch video on crew resource management

Born in London, Sachs graduated from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School now the world-renowned Imperial College. He received a degree in public health from the University of Toronto and completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology and a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital (HMS). In addition, he was a visiting scientist at the Centers for Disease Control in 1980 and completed the PMD program (business management) at the Harvard Business School in 1987.

Sachs has been involved in international healthcare initiatives including fundraising for and the development of women’s and children’s health centers in Philippines, Armenia and Ukraine.  The center in Dnieperpetrovsk, Ukraine provides free care to 20,000 women and children per year.

Ben Sachs’ interests outside of medicine are his family, music, especially classical and jazz, high altitude trekking and running. Since arriving at Tulane he has launched the SOM Dean’s Tulane Wave Runners Club. The group meets in Audubon Park on weekends.