uring the August 2005 ASA Board of Directors meeting, the House of Delegates approved a restricted grant of up to $500,000 annually to conduct studies on cerebral function monitoring. Subsequently ASA requested that the ASA Committee on Research and the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) work together and, after concluding a satisfactory feasibility study, develop and distribute to qualified researchers a request for proposals to conduct a randomized, controlled trial that involves a sufficient number of patients to prove or disprove to a reasonable degree of scientific probability whether brain function monitoring reduces the incidence of awareness under general anesthesia.

The incidence of awareness is rare in the general population but is enhanced in specific subgroups of patients. For example patients undergoing cesarean section or high-risk cardiac surgery are at a much higher risk of awareness.

FAER is requesting proposals for a project to evaluate the effectiveness of brain function monitoring in reducing the incidence of intraoperative awareness. The proposal requests a randomized, controlled design, but alternative study designs will be considered. The outcomes of interest should be specified, and relevancy of these outcomes to the patient should be considered. Power calculations for either a feasibility or outcome study should be reported.

Proposals will be judged on their generalizability to the entire population of patients undergoing general anesthesia and will be evaluated and scored through the same process as other FAER grant applications. Both feasibility and costs of the trial will be critical to the funding decision. In the case of a proposed feasibility study, a rough estimate of the cost of the ultimate outcome study should be included. If the costs are prohibitive or no studies are deemed feasible, then no grant may be awarded. Information regarding FAER grants and application materials is available at faer.org/grants.php. Questions pertaining specifically to this request for proposal may be directed to the FAER office or to Jeffrey L. Apfelbaum, M.D. at jeffa@dacc.uchicago.edu.

FAER Research Applications

he FAER Critical Care Research Council, Geriatrics Research Council, Pain Research Council and Pediatrics Research Council are still seeking applications in their respective areas of interest. Information regarding FAER grants and application deadlines is available at faer.org/grants.php.

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