William G. Baxt Professor of Emergency Medicine

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Established in 2021 by the Department of Emergency Medicine, the Professorship is awarded to an outstanding member of the faculty pursing advances in emergency medicine. The Chair is named after William G. Baxt, MD, who is an Emeritus Professor of Emergency Medicine - and renowned for his work introducing neural network aid for the early diagnosis of cardiac ischemia in patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain. 

baxt photoCurrent Chairholder
Zachary F. Meisel, MD, MPH, MSHP

Zachary F. Meisel, MD, MPH, MSHP is the Vice Chair for Faculty, the Director of the Center for Emergency Care Policy and Research, and a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine. He is co-Director of the Penn Injury Science Center. Dr. Meisel’s research interests include narrative translation methods, injury prevention, substance use disorder, medical communication, guideline adherence, opioid use disorder, patient safety, emergency medical services, and patient centered comparative effectiveness research. He has a specific focus on using and testing persuasive narratives to promote evidence translation to patients, providers, and policy makers. Dr. Meisel studies ways to improve the translation of research evidence, particularly around prescription opioids.

He also directs the Policy and Dissemination core for the NIH/NIDA-funded Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH) which partners closely with LDI in dissemination activities. He has served as principal investigator or co-PI of major grants from the NIH, CDC, PCORI and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) as well as the WT Grant Foundation, focused on the translation of evidence to providers and patients. He has received over 11 million dollars in extramural funding as PI or co-PI. He has been continuously funded from federal agencies since 2013. Dr. Meisel has been a medical columnist for Slate and Time with expertise in dissemination translation of health services research results for audiences such as patients and policy makers. He is Senior Associate Editor for the journal Academic Emergency Medicine.

Previous Chairholder

  • Benjamin S. Abella, MD, MPhil 2022-2024