Dr. Ben Julian Palanca is a tenured Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, with an affiliated faculty appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. He completed his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Washington University prior to completing his medical training at the same institution. He has maintained an active clinical practice as a cardiac anesthesiologist since 2010.

As a physician-scientist, he leads the Sleepy Brain Lab at investigating novel markers and interventions for neuropsychiatric disorders. The group leverages electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and cognitive assessments in human translational neuroscience investigations on delirium, rapid-acting antidepressants, and the interface of sleep and anesthesia-induced unconsciousness.