Scripps Research welcomes healthcare innovator Joe Kiani to the Board of Directors

LA JOLLA, CA—Entrepreneur and medical technology leader Joe Kiani has been appointed to the Board of Directors at Scripps Research. Over the course of his career, Kiani has shaped patient monitoring and safety efforts while spearheading related initiatives spanning industry and philanthropy.

Kiani is the founder and executive chair of Willow Laboratories, a company focused on advancing noninvasive approaches to diabetes and metabolic health management. He’s also the founder as well as former chair and CEO of Masimo, a medical technology company that develops noninvasive monitoring technologies best known for its Signal Extraction Technology (SET®), which enables accurate pulse oximetry measurements during patient movement and low perfusion conditions.

From 2021 to 2024, Kiani served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, where he co-led a national report on patient safety. He now serves on the boards of several leading institutions, including Rady Children’s Hospital, The Carter Center, and the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences at the University of California, Irvine.

Throughout his career, Kiani has steered a range of ventures. His entrepreneurial portfolio includes the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, which he founded to help eliminate preventable patient harm and death. Kiani also launched civic engagement initiatives, including CitizeX, designed to promote civic participation, and A Starting Point, a bipartisan platform he co-founded to make political issues more accessible. Additionally, he’s the co-founder of Like Minded Media Ventures, a media production and technology company, and the co-founder, chair and CEO of its technology arm, Like Minded Labs, the makers of Coresee high-resolution video conferencing software. Moreover, he founded Kiani Preserve Ranch LLC, an agricultural venture.

In recognition of his achievements related to technology and patient safety, Kiani has received numerous accolades, including Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year: Life Sciences Award, the Hubert H. Humphrey “Dawn of Life” Award from the Newborn Foundation, the Robert Wears Patient Safety Award from the University of Florida Health, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine Innovation Award. Kiani holds more than 600 patents associated with patient monitoring technologies, and his Masimo W1 Medical Watch was named one of the Best Inventions of 2024 by TIME.

In addition to his professional achievements, Kiani and his wife, Sarah, are active philanthropists. Together, they have supported multiple organizations including the Barack Obama Foundation, Code.org, Human Options Inc., the Pacific Symphony, the Tahirih Justice Center, the United States Fund for UNICEF, and the WHO Foundation. Kiani also established and served as chair of the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare.

Kiani earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from San Diego State University and holds honorary doctorates from his alma mater and Chapman University.