Steven Q Simpson, MD 

Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, University of Kansas

Steven Q. Simpson, MD, is Professor of Medicine at the University of Kansas in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, where he previously served as Division Director, Director of three ICUs, Chair of the Sepsis Team, and Chair of Multidisciplinary Critical Care. He has done research in all areas of severe sepsis, from molecular and cellular mechanisms to translational and quality improvement studies. He initiated the Kansas Sepsis Project, a statewide program to improve severe sepsis care and outcomes throughout the state. He is an author of the 2016 and 2020 Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines and of the NIH’s COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines. He is a regular reviewer for numerous journals, including CHEST, Shock, Intensive Care Medicine, and the Journal of Critical Care, and is a member of the editorial board of Critical Care Medicine. He is an IPA and Senior Medical Advisor to the Solving Sepsis program of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He is the author of over 200 peer-reviewed and invited manuscripts, book chapters, and web-based articles and presentations. 

Laura Evans, MD, MSc   

Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Medical Director, Critical Care, University of Washington Medical Center  

Laura Evans, MD, MSc is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington and is also the Medical Director of Critical Care at the University of Washington Medical Center. Her interests focus on patient safety and quality improvement, particularly sepsis, as well as preparedness for high-consequence infectious diseases. Dr. Evans earned her MD at the University of Michigan and did her residency in internal medicine at Columbia University. She completed pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship training and earned an MS in epidemiology at the University of Washington. She joined the faculty of NYU and Bellevue Hospital in 2006. She led the evacuation of the Bellevue Hospital ICUs in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and was the clinical lead for New York City’s Ebola treatment center. After 14 years in NYC, she returned to Seattle in 2019. She joined the steering committee of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign in 2012 and is the current Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines co-chair. She serves on the Council of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. She is Associate Editor of Critical Care Explorations and a member of the editorial board of Critical Care Medicine.