Founders, Leaders and Futurists in Palliative Care: Ira Byock, MD, FAAHPM by Palliative Care Chat - University of MD Baltimore published on 2021-08-02T21:35:45Z Trained as an emergency physician, Dr. Byock has been involved with hospice and palliative care since the 1970s. He is a past president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine He led the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Promoting Excellence in End of Life Care program and the Missoula Demonstration Project. He directs the Center for Human Caring. and served as director for Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care, a national grant program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.