Scott D. Halpern, M.D., Ph.D. is Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, and a practicing critical care doctor. He is the founding Director of the Palliative and Advanced Illness Research (PAIR) Center, which generates evidence to advance policies and practices that improve the lives of all people affected by serious illness. His many awards include the Greenwall Foundation Faculty Scholar Award in Bioethics, AcademyHealth’s Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award, the Young Leader Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the American Federation for Medical Research’s Outstanding Investigator Award for the best scientist in any field under the age of 45, and the Association of Clinical and Translational Science’s Distinguished Investigator Award for lifetime achievement in translation of clinical practice into public policy.

Dr. Halpern is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and serves on the Editorial Boards of the Annals of Internal Medicine and the American Journal of Bioethics. Dr. Halpern has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, and his work has been featured in every major media outlet. His greatest professional pleasure comes through mentoring nearly two dozen post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty.