Author Samuel Ajizian, M.D., FAAP, FCCM, CPPS is a board-certified Pediatric Intensivist with more than 20 years of clinical practice in the Pediatric ICU. He received his medical degree from the University of Southern California and completed pediatric residency and Chief Residency at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr. Ajizian joined Medtronic in 2015 in his first role as Vice President, Medical Affairs for the Patient Monitoring and Recovery business unit. In 2018, he assumed direction of the MITG Medical Safety Office. Dr. Ajizian then became interim director of the MITG Scientific Communications team, where he oversaw the production of key compliance-related deliverables including Clinical Evaluation Reports. In 2020, Dr. Ajizian assumed the roles of Chief Medical Officer of Patient Monitoring and Vice President of Global Clinical Research and Medical Science: Acute Care and Monitoring (formerly known as Patient Monitoring and Respiratory Innovations) at Medtronic.
The large-scale, multidisciplinary effort to improve the performance of pulse oximeters provides an example of the value of collaboration to solve problems and shows how industry partners can contribute in a significant way when they have a seat at the table.