| |
 |
| Terri G. Monk, M.D. |
Terri G. Monk, M.D., Professor of Anesthesiology at
the University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville,
will present the 2003 Emery A. Rovenstine Memorial
Lecture on Monday, October 13, at 11:15 a.m. at the
Moscone Center. As one of only two plenary sessions
held during the Annual Meeting, this lecture honors
Emery A. Rovenstine, M.D., the distinguished anesthesiologist
who was Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology
at New York University Medical Center and Director
of Anesthesia at Bellevue Hospital. Although Dr. Rovenstine
served the specialty of anesthesiology in multiple
capacities, including as a founding member and president
of the American Board of Anesthesiology, ASA President
and a recipient of the ASA Distinguished Service Award,
he is best known as the teacher and mentor for a generation
of anesthesiologists who went on to become leaders
of our specialty.
In her presentation, Dr. Monk will focus on one of
the most significant trends affecting medical care,
an aging U.S. population and the increasing number
of elderly patients requiring anesthesia and surgery.
Dr. Monk is recognized as one of the leading researchers
investigating the recently described phenomena of
postoperative cognitive dysfunction in the elderly.
As she stated in a recent grant application, “Today,
the fastest growing segment of the United States population
includes people over the age of 65 years, and it is
estimated that more than half of these individuals
will require some form of surgery in their lifetime.
Improvements in surgical techniques, anesthesia and
intensive care units have made surgery in these elderly
patients possible. Despite improved operative outcomes
in the elderly, a significant percentage of these
patients experience postoperative cognitive dysfunction
(POCD). The socioeconomic implications of this cognitive
decline are profound, and some reports suggest that
abrupt declines in cognitive function are precursors
of a loss of independence, withdrawal from society
and death. While it is now accepted that POCD is a
real entity, little is known about the etiology of
POCD and the risk factors for this problem in the
aging population.”
Dr. Monk began her research in POCD after she joined
the Department of Anesthesiology at the University
of Florida College of Medicine in 1998. She initially
went to Gainesville because her husband, B. Craig
Weldon, M.D., had been recruited as a pediatric intensivist
and anesthesiologist, but in her new department, she
soon found a mentor, J. S. Gravenstein, M.D., whose
influence immediately changed her career. Dr. Gravenstein
had just concluded his participation in a multicenter
study demonstrating that age was a significant risk
factor for postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Although
Dr. Monk had already reached the midpoint of her professional
career, she arrived in Gainesville at a time that
she was searching for new areas to pursue.
As a result of the mentoring of Dr. Gravenstein, her
research in a new area, geriatric anesthesia, was
launched. Through collaborative efforts with neurologists
and neuropsychologists at the University of Florida,
she received funding from the Anesthesia Patient Safety
Foundation to perform a study to determine if POCD
occurred in patients younger than 60 years of age.
This was the start of the second phase of Dr. Monk’s
academic career. She has now received grants from
the National Institutes of Health to support additional
training in clinical and outcomes research, and in
August 2003, she will receive a master’s of
science degree from the Advanced Postgraduate Program
in Clinical Investigation. After completion of her
advanced training, she is planning research to delineate
the mechanisms responsible for POCD in the elderly,
including the role of pre-existing patient factors
and the inflammatory response to surgery. With a better
understanding of these processes, it may some day
be possible to recognize patients at risk and to prevent
unwanted outcomes.
As a result of her recent academic interests, Dr.
Monk became a charter member of the Society for the
Advancement of Geriatric Anesthesia (SAGA) and currently
serves as the president-elect of the Society. She
also is an ASA representative to the American Geriatric
Society’s Section of Surgical and Related Medical
Specialties.
Dr. Monk has followed a circuitous path to reach her
current position. After graduating Summa Cum Laude
from Wayne State College, Wayne, Nebraska, she attended
medical school at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
Upon completion of her internship at the University
of Nebraska, she entered her anesthesiology residency
at University of Nebraska but completed her training
at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, where
she served as chief resident in anesthesiology. Initially,
she chose to enter the private practice of anesthesiology,
but after several years, she joined the Department
of Anesthesiology at Washington University School
of Medicine, Washington, D.C. Here, she was introduced
to clinical research by her first mentor, Paul F.
White, M.D., Ph.D. Soon, she had several publications
and had sufficiently mastered basic research skills
to begin to pursue additional topics independently.
Her research interests then shifted to transfusion
medicine, including blood conservation strategies,
acute normovolemic hemodilution and blood substitutes.
She has authored multiple journal publications and
chapters on these topics.
Dr. Monk’s academic career has benefited from
her anesthesia mentors and from her work with collaborators
from other specialties. She now serves as a mentor
for medical students, anesthesiology residents and
fellows, and neuropsychology postdoctoral students
who are interested in pursuing research careers.
The Emery A. Rovenstine Memorial Lecture honors the
memory of one of our specialty’s most distinguished
leaders and mentors. It is fitting that Dr. Monk,
who has benefited from and now serves as a mentor
to others in the tradition of Dr. Rovenstine, has
been selected to deliver this lecture.
| |
|
Arnold J. Berry, M.D., is Professor of Anesthesiology,
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta,
Georgia. |
|
|
return to top
|