Scott Halpern, MD, PhD, is a professor of medicine, epidemiology, and medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania where he is also a practicing palliative care doctor. He is the founding director of the Palliative and Advanced Illness Research (PAIR) Center, which unites more than 70 team members around the goals of developing and testing interventions to improve the value and equity of health care delivery for patients affected by serious illnesses, including dementia. He has led more than 35 RCTs testing interventions to change clinicians' and patients' health-related behaviors, most of which have had highly pragmatic orientations. His contributions to science and biomedical ethics have been recognized with election to ASCI, AAP, the National Academy of Medicine and the Hastings Center. His proudest accomplishments, however, relate to his track record of mentorship, which has been recognized with many awards and led to more than 20 trainees becoming faculty members and patient-oriented researchers at top academic medical centers.