Brant M. Wagener, M.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and Simon Gelman Endowed Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an alumnus of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. A nationally recognized leader in anesthesiology and critical care medicine, Dr. Wagener directs a dynamic, federally-funded research program while maintaining an active role in patient care, medical education, and mentoring the next generation of academic physicians. His research program uses a combination of basic, translational, and clinical science to understand how inflammation, pneumonia, and immune dysregulation contribute to postoperative complications, sepsis, and long-term cognitive dysfunction with ongoing efforts to identify clinically actionable biomarkers and therapeutic targets. His work is also using artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict patient outcomes after illness and proactively treat patients. Dr. Wagener is deeply committed to mentorship and the academic development of trainees. As part of these roles, he is the Director of Clinical Research, director of two residency research programs, director of medical student research programs and collaborates extensively within and outside UAB. He has mentored numerous trainees from the high school level to junior faculty and they have received competitive fellowships and national awards in both clinical medicine and research. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts in high-impact journals and serves on multiple study sections, advisory boards, and editorial boards.