Joe Kiani

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Joe Kiani is committed to transforming yesterday's impossibilities into today’s realities. This is precisely what he accomplished at Masimo® and continues to achieve with Willow Laboratories, which was founded in 1998. Joe Kiani founded Masimo in 1989, a global medical technology company renowned for noninvasive patient monitoring technologies. Under his leadership as Chairman and CEO, Masimo transformed from a “garage start-up” into a publicly traded, multi-billion-dollar enterprise listed on NASDAQ (MASI). To name just one successful invention, Masimo Signal Extraction Technology® (SET) is the primary pulse oximetry that can be found at the top 10 hospitals in the United States and throughout the world. Today, he is leading Willow Laboratories as the team prepares for the commercialization of several new groundbreaking technologies.

Other Experience

Every year, over 200,000 people die from preventable causes in hospitals – the very place a person seeks care and healing. Inspired by this grim reality, Joe Kiani founded the Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) in 2012. Under Joe Kiani’s leadership, the PSMF held the first Patient Safety Science & Technology Summit in January 2013. This inaugural summit featured President Clinton as the keynote speaker. Since then, Joe Kiani has convened and inspired leading healthcare clinicians, hospital and healthcare system CEOs, and medical device CEOs from around the world to pursue an ambitious goal – ZERO preventable patient deaths. Achieving this goal requires full transparency into healthcare data, including precise statistics on preventable deaths. To attain this bold initiative, Joe Kiani launched Project Zero, a collaboration aimed at helping healthcare organizations implement evidence-based practices that enhance patient safety and eliminate preventable patient harm.

As a quintessential American entrepreneur and innovator, Joe Kiani has tirelessly championed healthcare reform for over 30 years. His vision continues to flourish and inspire as he collaborates with legislators in Washington, D.C., to shape public policy, foster innovation, and encourage sound healthcare decisions. In 2021, Joe Kiani was appointed by President Biden to serve on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology where he spearheaded the patient safety report for implementation by the White House. Joe Kiani’s passion lies in sharing knowledge, insights, and his unwavering spirit of true innovation to enhance healthcare for patients worldwide.

Recognition and Awards

Joe Kiani has received numerous awards for his work in technology and patient safety. In 2024, his W1 Medical Watch was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024. In 2023, he received the Robert Wears Patient Safety Award from University of Florida Health. He has also received the Hubert H. Humphrey ‘Dawn of Life’ Award (2014), which is presented by the Newborn Foundation to individuals who have significantly impacted infant mortality rates. In addition, Joe Kiani was honored with IP Champion Award in December 2018, the Society of Critical Care Medicine Innovation Award in 2000 and Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year: Life Sciences Award in 2012.

Education and Background

Joe Kiani received his Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from San Diego State University (SDSU). He also earned his Master’s in Electrical Engineering from SDSU. Joe Kiani has received Honorary Doctorate Awards in Science from SDSU and Chapman University. Joe Kiani holds more than 600 patents related to patient monitoring technology and his technology is used to monitor more than 200 million patients worldwide each year. Joe Kiani remains tirelessly dedicated to improving the lives of patients, their safety, and the healthcare system they interact with.

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