Lauren Jodi (“LJ”) Van Scoy is a professor of Medicine, Humanities and Public Health Sciences at Penn State College of Medicine and is a physician scientist with training as a Pulmonary and Critical Care physician. She has an active, independent research program in the field of end-of-life communication and advance care planning. She has published over 95 peer-reviewed articles and serves as Associate Director of Penn State’s Clinical Translational Science Institute (CTSI) including co-directing the CTSI’s KL2 program which trains early career scientists for careers as independent research investigators. Her NIH-funded research portfolio spans multiple settings including the intensive care unit (ICU), community-based research in underserved communities (the Project Talk Trial), and outpatient health centers. Her work has received funding from the National Institute of Health, Society for Critical Care Medicine, Parker B. Francis Family Foundation and the John and Wauna Harman Foundation, and she was awarded the prestigious Jo Rae Wright award for scientific excellence from the Parker B. Francis Family Foundation. Dr. Van Scoy also serves as qualitative and mixed-methods consultant and teaches a graduate course in Mixed Methods Research.