Dr. Tait Shanafelt is the chief wellness officer, associate dean, and Jeanie and Stewart Ritchie Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. Dr. Shanafelt is a hematologist/oncologist whose clinical work focuses on the care of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Dr. Shanafelt served a 7-year term on the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Leukemia Steering Committee from 2014 to 2020 and is currently the principal investigator on three R01 grants from the NCI. He has been the principal investigator on numerous clinical trials testing new treatments for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, including two national phase three trials for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG). He has published ~425 peer-reviewed manuscripts and commentaries in addition to more than 100 abstracts and book chapters.
In addition to his leukemia research, Dr. Shanafelt is an international thought leader and researcher in the field of physician well-being and its implications for quality of care. His pioneering studies in this area nearly 20 years ago are credited with helping launch the entire field of organizational efforts to promote physician well-being. He previously served as the founding director of the Mayo Clinic Department of Medicine Program on Physician Well-being and served a 3-year term as the president of the Mayo Clinic Voting Staff. In 2017, he moved to Stanford, where he leads the WellMD & WellPhD Center.
He is a member of the American College of Physicians Taskforce on Physician Well-being and also served as a member of the National Academy of Medicine Committee on System Approaches to Support Clinician Well-being. He has helped hundreds of organizations and their leaders work to improve burnout and promote professional fulfillment for physicians. He has served as a keynote speaker to the AMA, ACGME, AAMC, and ABIM. Tait’s studies in this area have also been cited in CNN, USA Today, U.S. News, and the New York Times. In 2018, he was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 50 most influential people in healthcare.