Joe Kiani
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Joe Kiani (; born on September 16, 1964, is an Iranian-born American engineer, entrepreneur, and corporate executive. He is the founder of
medical technology Health technology is defined by the World Health Organization as the "application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of liv ...
company
Masimo Masimo Corporation is an American health technology and consumer electronics company based in Irvine, California. The company manufactures patient monitoring devices and technologies, including non-invasive sensors using optical technology, pat ...
, established in 1989, and Willow Laboratories, founded in 1998. In 2021, he was appointed by President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
to serve on the
President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council, chartered (or re-chartered) in each administration with a broad mandate to advise the president of the United States on science and technology. The current PCAST w ...
(PCAST). In 2024, Joe Kiani resigned as Masimo CEO after shareholders voted to remove him from the company's board. Kiani was subsequently sued by Masimo for allegedly conspiring with investment firm RTW Investments to manipulate the shareholder vote. Kiani is now the CEO of Willow Laboratories.


Early life and education

Kiani was born in
Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
on September 16, 1964. Joe Kiani and his family immigrated to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
with his family at the age of nine. Joe Kiani's father was an engineer, and his mother was a nurse. Arriving in the United States, speaking no more than three words in English, Joe Kiani graduated from high school at the age of fifteen. Joe Kiani enrolled in
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
(SDSU), receiving bachelor's (B.S.E.E) and master's (M.S.E.E) degrees in electrical engineering by the age of 22.


Early career

Beginning in 1984, Joe Kiani worked as a CO-OP engineer at Burroughs in Rancho Bernardo, which later became Unisys. In 1986, he moved to Irvine and began working at Bell Industries and later at Anthem. In 1988, he began consulting for Newport Medical Electronics to build a low-cost pulse oximeter, where he discovered the motion artifact and low perfusion problems with pulse oximeters. He pitched the company a solution, which they declined. Following this, Joe Kiani left them and returned all the compensation they had given him. With a release he received from them, he founded Masimo in 1989.


Career at Masimo

Kiani founded the medical technology company
Masimo Masimo Corporation is an American health technology and consumer electronics company based in Irvine, California. The company manufactures patient monitoring devices and technologies, including non-invasive sensors using optical technology, pat ...
in 1989 and was later joined by partner Mohammed Diab. The company is publicly traded and employs more than 8000 people worldwide. Joe Kiani and Mohammed Diab invented measures through motion and low perfusion pulse oximetry, and they reduced pulse oximeter false alarms by over 90% while detecting more true alarms. Joe Kiani holds more than 500 patents or patent applications for advanced signal processing, optical sensors, and wearable technologies. Masimo pulse oximetry is used to monitor over 200 million patients worldwide. In 2011, Forbes named Masimo one of the top 20 public companies with revenue under a billion dollars based on earnings growth, sales growth, and return on equity.
Pulse oximetry Pulse oximetry is a noninvasive method for monitoring blood oxygen saturation. Peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) readings are typically within 2% accuracy (within 4% accuracy in 95% of cases) of the more accurate (and invasive) reading of art ...
is one of the most commonly used monitoring technologies in healthcare. Masimo makes a pulse oximetry technology known as Signal Extraction Technology (SET), which is the first pulse oximetry technology to reliably measure through motion and low perfusion conditions.Sound United premium audio brands including
Bowers & Wilkins Bowers & Wilkins, commonly known as B&W, is a British company that produces consumer and professional loudspeakers and headphones. The company was founded in 1966 in Worthing, West Sussex, England. In October 2020, it was acquired by Sound U ...
,
Polk Audio Polk Audio, Inc. is an American manufacturer of audio products best known for its home and automobile speakers. The company also produces a wide range of other audio products, such as amplifiers and FM tuners. The company's headquarters is in ...
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Denon is a Japanese electronics company dealing with audio equipment. The Denon brand came from a merger of Denki Onkyo (not to be confused with the other Onkyo) and others in 1939. It originally started as Nippon Chikuonki Shoukai in 1910 by Freder ...
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Marantz Marantz is a company that develops and sells high-end audio products. The company was founded in New York, but is now based in California. The first Marantz audio product was designed and built by Saul Marantz in his home in Kew Gardens, Quee ...
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Definitive Technology Definitive Technology (sometimes referred to as Def Tech) is an American unit based in Vista, California, of the Sound United division of electronics company DEI Holdings, that designs, develops and sells home theater audio systems, soundbars an ...
,
Classé Classé is a Canadian audio brand known for high-performance music and theater components, such as amplifiers, pre-amplifiers and surround sound processors. The company was founded in 1980 in Montréal. Classé became part of the Bowers & Wilkins ...
and
Boston Acoustics Boston Acoustics was an American manufacturer of home and mobile audio equipment founded in 1979. The company produced speakers for home, custom/architectural, and car audio. History Advent veterans Andy Kotsatos (known as Andy Petite) and Fra ...
. After the acquisition was announced, Masimo's stock dropped by 38%, resulting in a $5B reduction in market capitalization. After activist investors won the majority of the Board, including Joe Kiani's position on the Board, in September 19th, 2024, Joe Kiani resigned as CEO and currently leads Willow Laboratories, a health and wellness innovator focused on diabetes, based in Irvine, California, which holds 127 issued patents, 48 pending patents, and technologies.


Industry reform and patient safety initiatives

Joe Kiani is active in efforts to reform U.S. health care and encourage medical innovation. In 2002 and 2003, Joe Kiani testified in front of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee regarding anticompetitive practices of Hospital Group Purchasing Organizations and dominant medical suppliers. His efforts led to new codes of conduct by GPOs that prohibited sole supply and bundling agreements of clinically preferred products. As a result, many new innovative companies were able to get GPO contracts and make their products available to hospitals and patients. In 2010, Joe Kiani and Masimo provided $10 million in funding to create the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation, and Competition in Healthcare, which is dedicated to encouraging and promoting activities that improve patient safety and deliver advanced healthcare worldwide. Masimo Foundation supports third-party research, development initiatives, and clinical studies with an emphasis on transformative projects that seek to truly enhance patient safety and outcomes; helping to forge a world free of sickness, disease and inhumanity. In September 2013, Kiani appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee and laid out five steps to help eradicate preventable patient deaths. That year, he also founded th
Patient Safety Movement Foundation
through the support of the Masimo Foundation. More than 200,000 preventable patient deaths occur each year in U.S. hospitals. The Patient Safety Movement is committed to reducing these deaths to zero by 2030. The foundation also convenes the action-oriented annual Patient Safety, Science & Technology summit. In 2017, at its 5th annual summit, the Patient Safety Movement Foundation announced that almost 70,000 lives had been saved and over 69 healthcare technology companies had pledged to share their data, helping to create an ecosystem for engineers to develop predictive algorithms that can help save even more lives. In 2020, the Patient Safety Movement Foundation was awarded a $5 million five-year grant from the Masimo Foundation to help advance its mission and expedite its efforts. Joe Kiani, a staunch supporter of innovation, has not only testified regarding the US patent system, including at a Senate Hearing in 2023, but has successfully stood up to very large companies to defend Masimo’s intellectual property against companies such as Apple, Medtronic, and Philips.


President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)

In September 2021, Joe Kiani was named by President Joe Biden as a member of the
President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council, chartered (or re-chartered) in each administration with a broad mandate to advise the president of the United States on science and technology. The current PCAST w ...
(PCAST). During his tenure on PCASAT, Joe Kiani co-chaired the working group that published and presented recommendations on how to improve patient safety to President Biden, called
A Transformational Effort on Patient Safety
.


Honors and recognition

Joe Kiani has received numerous awards and recognitions throughout his career, including the Robert Wears Patient Safety Leadership Award in 2023, the City of Hope Let’s Be Frank Humanitarian Award in 2021, and the Ibero American Society (SIBEN), Improvement of Neonatal Health in Latin America award, Presented at XVII Annual Congress, on November 16, 2020. Joe Kiani was named an Honorary Member of the Mexican Academy of Surgery in Mexico City on June 6th, 2019. In 2018, he received the IP Champion Award from the Intellectual Property Owners Association Education Foundation, and the Anti-Defamation League Humanitarian Award in 2017. Additionally, Joe Kiani was named Innovator of the Year by the Orange County Business Journal, in 2017, and received the European Network Patient Blood Management Platinum Award the same year. He was named the SafeCare Person of the Year in 2015, and received the Chapman University Argyros Medal for Visionary Leadership & Commitment to Patient Safety in 2013. Joe Kiani was named Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year – Life Sciences and Public Service Award Winner in 2012, and the San Diego State University honored Joe Kiani with the Monty Award in 2005. He was honored with the Adaptive Business Leaders Innovations in Healthcare Platinum "ABBY" Award in 2003, The March of Dimes Excellence in Leadership Award in 2001, and the Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) Technology Excellence Award in 2000. In recognition of Joe Kiani's innovations, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and San Diego State University awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Science


Philanthropy and civic engagement

In 2019, Kiani began serving on the Advisory Board of the University of California in Irvine Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences. In 2020, Joe Kiani joined actors Chris Evans and
Mark Kassen Mark Kassen (born 1971) is an American actor, director and producer. He has appeared in the films '' Growing Up Brady'' (2000), '' The Good Student'' (2006), ''Puncture'' (2011), and '' Jobs'' (2013). In July 2020, he and Chris Evans launched A S ...
in creating
A Starting Point A Starting Point is a website, launched in 2020, devoted to presenting videos by elected officials (current or former), presenting various points of view on issues that are of interest to the United States electorate. It was started by Chris Eva ...
, a video-based civic engagement platform. In 2021, Joe Kiani started serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of the
California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...
(Caltech), the Board of Councilors of the
Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidential ele ...
, and the Chair of the Board Quality Committee of the
Children’s Hospital of Orange County Children's Hospital of Orange County or CHOC is a pediatric healthcare system based in Orange County, California. Its flagship hospital, CHOC Hospital Main Campus – Orange, is a pediatric acute care hospital located in Orange, California. The ...
(CHOC).Joe Kiani is member of the Board of CHOC
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiani, Joe American health care chief executives American technology chief executives Living people 1965 births San Diego State University alumni