Ralph Lydic, Ph.D. serves as Professor of Anesthesiology and Psychology at University of Tennessee, and Professor Emeritus at University of Michigan. He holds a Joint Faculty appointment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Lydic is a neuroscientist and his research aims to achieve a better understanding of how the brain regulates sleep states and anesthesia, and elucidating the mechanisms by which sleep, opioids, and volatile anesthetics modulate pain and depress breathing and arousal.