Ira Byock, a leading palliative-care physician, contends that how Americans die is one of the biggest crises facing our nation today.

Byock, author of “The Best Care Possible,” will discuss how changes in attitudes toward death and dying and the health care system must address this crisis during a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. April 3 in the 5th floor conference room of UB’s Clinical and Translational Research Center, 875 Ellicott St., Buffalo.

His talk, “What Are Doctors For? The Physician-Patient Relationship through the End of Life,” will be followed by a Q&A session.

Professor of medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Byock is the former director of palliative medicine at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

The event is part of the inaugural award luncheon for the Robert L. Scheig, MD, Memorial Fund for Palliative Care Education and Research.

Funds generated by this endowment support fellows and residents at the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences who are interested in patient care and research in the field of palliative care medicine.