February 2006 FAER Grant Recipients Announced

The Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) is pleased to announce the recipients of the February 2006 Research Grant Award cycle whose research projects will start July 1, 2006. The FAER Board of Directors expresses appreciation for the time and effort that the applicants, ASA Committee on Research and FAER Education Grant Committee members have committed to this process.

Mentored Research Training Grant ($75,000 year one, $100,000 year two; Mentor Stipend $40,000/year)
Awarded for clinical or basic research to individuals who have completed their clinical anesthesia training and have academic appointments as instructor or assistant professor level, no more than five years after completion of residency or fellowship.

Michael P. Kinsky, M.D., University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas, “Pharmacologic Modulation of Fluid Therapy.” Mentors: George C. Kramer, Ph.D., and Donald S. Prough, M.D. Department Chair: Donald S. Prough, M.D.

Ken Solt, M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, “Modulation of 5-HT3A Receptor Kinetics by Inhaled Anesthetics.” Mentor: Douglas E. Raines, M.D., Department Chair: Warren M. Zapol, M.D.

Research in Education Grant ($50,00 for year one, $50,000 for year two)
Awarded to individuals who have completed their clinical anesthesia training and have academic appointments; for research to improve the quality and productivity of education and research in anesthesiology.

Haleh Saadat, M.D., Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, “Implementation and Testing of a Wellness Program Conducted With Anesthesiology Residents at Yale.” Mentor: Zeev N. Kain, M.D., Department Chair: Roberta L. Hines, M.D.

Samuel D. Yanofsky, M.D., M.S. Ed, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, “Examination of a Model Curriculum for Teaching the ACGME Competencies of Professionalism and Interpersonal and Communication Skills in a Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship.” Mentor: Philip D. Lumb, M.B., B.S., Department Chair: Randall Wetzel, M.B., B.S., M.Bus.

FAER Research Councils Soliciting Applications

n anticipation of the August 15, 2006, and February 15, 2007, application deadlines for FAER Research Grants, the FAER Research Councils are seeking applications in the following areas of specific interest. Applications will be evaluated and scored through the same process as other FAER grant applications. Information regarding FAER grants and application materials are available at <faer.org/grants.php>.

FAER Pediatrics Research Council Request for Applications
The FAER Pediatrics Research Council is seeking research funding applications to promote and encourage research in pediatric anesthesiology through basic, translational, patient-oriented and population-based investigations. Studies in the biology of anesthesia in the developing organism and studies on the plasticity and programming associated with anesthesia experienced during development are especially encouraged.

FAER Pain Research Council Request for Applications
The FAER Pain Research Council is encouraging research funding applications in the following area(s):

• Frameworks to evaluate safety, efficacy, competency and outcomes in patient populations with pain from preclinical to clinical settings.

• Studies in the area of physician education in pain medicine.

Although applications for all categories of FAER grants are welcome, applications for Research Starter Grants are especially encouraged.

FAER Geriatrics Research Council Request for Applications
The FAER Geriatrics Research Council is seeking applications for research funding for studies that will identify factors associated with or predictive of perioperative complications in geriatric patients. Although applications for all categories of FAER grants are welcome, applications for Research Starter Grants are especially encouraged.

FAER in Transition

he FAER office is undergoing a transition with the departure of Thomas M. Bruckman on June 1. He has completed his three-year contract as Executive Director and plans to remain in Rochester. We appreciate his service to FAER and wish him well in his new endeavors.

On the development front, an initial mailing was sent recently to anesthesiology’s private practice groups. Early results show rapid and encouraging response with several new contributors among the first group of donors.

Five years have passed since the FAER Strategic Planning Retreat, which produced the “Maynard Plan.” Discussions are currently under way to schedule a meeting for the FAER leadership to again look forward in assessing the future directions for FAER.

Neal H. Cohen, M.D., will succeed Alan D. Sessler, M.D., as Chair of the ASA Committee on Academic Anesthesiology following the 2006 Annual Meeting. The committee meets during the Association of University Anesthesiologists Spring Meeting and at the ASA Annual Meeting.

The committee’s charge is to:

1) maintain a liaison between academic anesthesiology and the Society;

2) represent the interests of academic anesthesiology to the Society;

3) focus issues and make recommendations to address present and future challenges to academic anesthesiology and to the specialty at large;

4) interact with other committees to ensure that issues confronting academic anesthesiology are resolved in a strategic fashion; and

5) carry out other activities relative to academic anesthesiology as may be requested.

To date, FAER has provided the major funding for programs resulting from the work of this group and wishes to continue to serve as a catalyst for programs that benefit all of anesthesiology. An update on the committee’s history, mission and progress is planned for a future issue of the ASA NEWSLETTER.