Sumant Ranji, MD, Named Inaugural Director of UCSF Coordinating Center for Diagnostic Excellence (CoDEx)

Meet the inspiring patient-safety leader, clinician, and researcher who will forge CoDEx’s path ahead.

UC San Francisco’s Division of Clinical Informatics and Digital Transformation (DoC-IT) has selected Sumant Ranji, MD, a nationally renowned patient-safety leader, clinician, and researcher, as the inaugural director of the new Coordinating Center for Diagnostic Excellence (CoDEx), effective July 1.

Dr. Ranji brings more than 20 years of experience in patient safety, quality improvement, and medical education to CoDEx. He first joined UCSF as a fellow in hospital medicine and clinical research, then went on to become a faculty member in the Division of Hospital Medicine at UCSF Health, where he held multiple leadership positions. Dr. Ranji then assumed the position of chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine (DHM) at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG) from 2016-2023. He now concurrently serves as the director of quality improvement and patient safety.

In his role as director of CoDEx, Dr. Ranji will lead the center’s strategic planning and oversee its launch and the execution of its work to champion diagnostic excellence research and build awareness of and engagement within the field. He will ensure that there are strong synergies between CoDEx and its UCSF home in DoC-IT within the Department of Medicine. 

In the last several years, Dr. Ranji has been increasingly dedicated to advancing diagnostic excellence both in his clinical service and through his research pursuits. Currently, he is a co-investigator on diagnostic error research projects funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, including the ongoing Advancing Diagnostic Excellence through Prevention and Teamwork (ADEPT) study, which is a multicenter collaborative quality improvement project. Dr. Ranji also is an associate editor of the high-impact journal BMJ Quality and Safety and has published multiple articles on diagnostic safety. His most recent publications have drawn on his experiences as a frontline clinician at ZSFG – San Francisco’s main safety-net hospital – where systemic inequities directly affect the diagnostic process with adverse consequences for patients and clinicians.

“Sumant brings invaluable experience in the field of patient safety and a proven history of effective leadership to CoDEx,” said Julia Adler-Milstein, PhD, chief of the UCSF Division of Clinical Informatics and Digital Transformation. “The center’s work will be integral in supporting and advancing the efforts of the diagnostic excellence community, and Sumant is ideally suited to launch CoDEx and execute its strategic vision.”

Driven by a formative experience with misdiagnosis and other adverse events for patients during his residency training, Dr. Ranji pursued a career as an academic hospitalist focusing on patient safety and quality improvement. He joined UCSF during the early phase of the patient safety movement, when knowledge in the field was expanding rapidly and there was a need to develop and disseminate evidence-based best practices. Due in large part to pivotal guidance from his mentors, Dr. Ranji gained experience in both frontline patient safety efforts and analyzing emerging evidence across the safety field.

He went on to apply his knowledge and skill set at ZSFG DHM, garnering high institutional credibility within UCSF and beyond due to his strong focus on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in his leadership, mentorship, and academic activities. With Dr. Ranji at the helm, the division grew to 50 faculty members, expanded its research and academic outputs, and implemented innovative clinical services to meet the needs of its patients. Importantly, he led the division through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fentanyl epidemic.

“Sumant was the perfect candidate for this new role,” said Bob Wachter, MD, professor and chair of the UCSF Department of Medicine. “He has a long track record of leadership in the fields of patient safety and diagnostic excellence. He’s also a wonderful communicator and mentor, as well as an exceptional clinician, researcher, innovator, and teacher. I have no doubt that he will be an inspiring and effective leader of this new center.”

Dr. Ranji was selected thanks to the diligent efforts of and insightful contributions from CoDEx’s internal advisory board, including chairs Julia Adler-Milstein, PhD, and Bob Wachter, MD, and members Andrew Auerbach, MD, MPH, Gurpreet Dhaliwal, MD, Sharmila Majumdar, PhD, Benjamin Rosner, MD, PhD, and Urmimala Sarkar, MD, MPH.

To learn more about Dr. Ranji, please visit his UCSF profile.