Dr. Wesley H. Self, MD, MPH, is the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. He is an emergency physician and researcher focused on the prevention and acute management of pneumonia, sepsis and influenza infections. He has published over 140 peer-reviewed publications and widely lectured and presented research findings on the early management of pneumonia, sepsis, and related emergencies.
Dr. Self designs and conducts clinical trials and large epidemiologic studies. He was the principal investigator for the Saline Against Lactated Ringer’s or Plasmalyte in the Emergency Department (SALT-ED) trial (New England Journal of Medicine 2018), which demonstrated a lower incidence of major adverse kidney events following IV fluid resuscitation with balanced crystalloids compared with saline. He is the principal investigator of the CDC-funded Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in the Critically Ill (IVY) study, which is a nationwide program studying severe influenza illness. He was also a lead investigator in the Etiology of Pneumonia in the Community (EPIC) study (New England Journal of Medicine 2015), which demonstrated a high disease burden from respiratory viruses among patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia in the United States.
Dr. Self completed medical school at the University of Virginia, residency training in emergency medicine at Northwestern University, and clinical research fellowship training at Vanderbilt University.