December 13, 2023
The Academic Giving Competition (AGC) returned with a bang in 2023. First introduced in 2022, the AGC is a fun, friendly competition held between academic anesthesiology departments as a means to raise funds in support of anesthesiology’s early career investigators. Lasting 12 days and centered around ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2023, this year’s AGC saw 28 departments compete for first place in two categories: most funds raised; and most donors. Each “team” was led by volunteer captains committed to the future of anesthesiology research, promoting giving around the competition and keeping their respective departments informed.
Following the success of the inaugural competition in 2022, FAER set an ambitious goal of $250,000 for AGC 2023, enough to fund an entire Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG). This goal constituted a nearly $100,000 increase over the total funds raised during AGC 2022.
Thanks to the above-and-beyond efforts of participating Team Captains, the competition hit the ground running on October 6, with momentum only continuing to build through ANESTHESIOLOGY. After a heated 11 days of competition and donations, FAER reached its $250,000 goal midday of October 17, the final day of the competition. The giving didn’t stop there, though! With a herculean last push, the teams kept their wallets open and showed their generosity up to the final moments.
When the dust settled, the 28 AGC 2023 teams had raised a monumental $309,069 thanks to 858 generous donors! Surpassing FAER’s original goal by nearly $60,000, the funds raised were enough to cover not only an entire MRTG, but also sponsor nearly 10 Medical Student Anesthesia Research Fellows (MSARF)! This total represented a nearly 100% increase in funds raised during AGC 2022 from more than double the donors. FAER is truly overwhelmed by this landslide of support and would like to express its deep, profound gratitude to all those who made this year’s competition such a wonderful success.
The competition was fierce, but two departments emerged victorious. Drumroll please!
Total Funds Raised: $53,266
Total Donors: 92
Team Captains:
Thomas J. Ebert, MD, PhD
Julie K. Freed, MD, PhD
Cynthia A. Lien, MD
“Reflecting on the incredible honor of celebrating Dr. George Hoffman, the Department of Anesthesiology at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee is thrilled to continue our commitment to supporting early career investigators in Anesthesiology through FAER. Winning our 2nd academic giving competition fills us with immense pride and reaffirms our dedication to nurturing the future of our specialty. Last year's participation showcased the fervor within the Anesthesiology community, fostering a vibrant energy for support for physician-scientists. The generosity of first-time donors, this year and last, was inspiring, and we extend heartfelt gratitude to contributors across all participating institutions. Receiving the FAER Academic Giving Competition Award for most dollars raised underscores our Department’s unwavering commitment to the advancement of Anesthesiology.”
- Thomas J. Ebert, MD, PhD; Julie K. Freed, MD, PhD; Cynthia A. Lien, MD
Total Donors: 109
Total Funds Raised: $17,180
Team Captain:
May Hua, MD, MSc
Robert Maniker, MD, MSc
“We are honored to have the largest number of donors contribute to the FAER AGC for the second year in a row! Our ability to encourage 109 individuals to donate (including faculty, trainees, alumni, staff, and family) and raise over $17,000 speaks to the importance of the FAER mission and to Columbia’s recognition of FAER’s value to our specialty. Over the years, FAER has supported and launched the academic careers of many individuals at Columbia and has been instrumental to ensuring the sustainability of academic anesthesiology. We are thrilled to help promote the FAER mission and we look forward to our fabulous prizes!”
- May Hua, MD, MSc; Robert Maniker, MD, MSc
Please join FAER in congratulating The Medical College of Wisconsin and Columbia University on taking home the gold for AGC 2023. Simultaneously, FAER would like to give a special shoutout to the two runners-up:
Total Funds Raised: $34,842
Total Donors: 55
Team Captains:
Mark Neuman, MD, MSc
E. Railey White, MD
Duke University
Total Donors: 100
Total Funds Raised: $12,645
Team Captain
Ashraf S. Habib, MSc, BCh, MB, FRCA
Marie-Louise Meng, MD
Michael Devinney, MD
In addition to celebrating our winners and runners-up, FAER is also pleased to share a selection of honorable mentions from this year’s competition. These. honorable mentions celebrate the incredible work from the many departments and donors participating in the AGC.
Top Tier Strategery
Johns Hopkins Medicine exhibited excellent strategery, utilizing both a challenge gift AND a matching gift from Drs. Roger Johns and Danny Muehlschlegel to great success!
The Early Bird Gets the Worm
Dr. Kane Pryor made the first donation during AGC 2023, given at 1:35 a.m. ET October 6 on behalf of Weill Cornell Medicine!
Family Ties
Dr. Catherine Chen teamed up with her father, Dr. Jin Lee Soo, who matched gifts made on behalf of University of California, San Francisco!
Rockin’ Residents
Columbia University showed a wave of support from their wonderful residents, with a total of 20 residents donating during AGC 2023. *
Punching Above Your Weight
The University of Iowa brought their A game for AGC 2023, holding their own against larger departments and finishing in the top ten for funds raised.
Power Couple: The Drs. Warner
Drs. Mark and Mary Ellen Warner continued their tradition of generosity towards FAER, with their gifts helping secure a spot for Mayo Clinic Rochester in the top 10 for both funds raised and total donors.
Regional Rager: West Coast
FAER loves some friendly competition, and Stanford University and University of California, San Francisco brought the heat this year. In the end, UCSF managed to claim the top spot!
Right Under the Wire
We hope you will join FAER in congratulating our winners, runners-up, and honorable mentions on their achievements. As always, though, the true winners of this competition are the physician-investigators these funds will help support, and the patients who will benefit from the research future FAER grantees and program participants will produce.
To follow is a full list of all departments and Team Captains that took part in the second annual Academic Giving Competition. On behalf of those the funds from this competition will benefit, FAER expresses its immense gratitude to everyone who helped make this competition such a success.
| Institution & Department | Team Captain(s) |
| Boston Children's Hospital Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine |
Susan Goobie, MD, FRCPC Megan Nolan |
| Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine |
Christopher W. Connor, MD, PhD |
| Cleveland Clinic Anesthesiology Institute |
Andrea M. Kurz, MD |
| Columbia University Department of Anesthesiology |
May Hua, MD, MSc Robert Maniker, MD |
| Duke University Department of Anesthesiology |
Michael Devinney, MD Ashraf S. Habib, MSc, BCh, MB, FRCA Marie-Louise Meng, MD |
| Emory University Department of Anesthesiology |
Rachel Hadler, MD Anna Woodbury, MD |
| Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Anesthesia |
David C. Adams, MD Lingzhong Meng, MD Fletcher A. White, PhD Sam Yeap, MD, MS |
| Johns Hopkins Medicine Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine |
Roger A. Johns, MD, MHS, PhD C. David Mintz, MD Kathryn R. Rosenblatt, MD, MHS |
| Mayo Clinic Arizona Department of Anesthesiology |
Monica W. Harbell, MD, FASA Adam Milam, MD, PhD |
| Mayo Clinic Rochester Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine |
Emily Sharpe, MD, FASA Elizabeth R. Vogel, MD, PhD |
| Medical College of Wisconsin Department of Anesthesiology |
Thomas J. Ebert, MD, PhD Julie K. Freed, MD, PhD Cynthia A. Lien, MD |
| Stanford University Medical Center Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine |
Rita Agarwal, MD, FASA Anuj K. Aggarwal, MD Pamela Flood, MD, MA Steven S. Lipman, MD, FASA Mariam Sarwary, MD |
| State University of New York – Buffalo Department of Anesthesiology |
Paul R. Knight, III, MD, PhD Stacey A. Watt, MD, FASA |
| UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine |
Soban Umar, MD, PhD |
| University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine |
Dawn Williams, MA |
| University of California, San Francisco Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care |
Catherine L. Chen, MD |
| University of Colorado Department of Anesthesiology |
Ben Cloyd, MD Katharine George |
| University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Department of Anesthesia |
David Kaczka, MD, PhD, FASA Rakesh Sondekoppam Vijayashankar, MBBS |
| University of Miami School of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine and Pain Management |
Paloma Toledo, MD, MPH |
| University of Michigan Medical School Department of Anesthesiology |
Chad M. Brummett, MD Matthew C. Wixson, MD |
| University of Nebraska Medical Center Department of Anesthesiology |
Karsten Bartels, MD, MBA, PhD |
| University of Pennsylvania Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care |
Mark Neuman, MD, MSc E. Railey White, MD |
| University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine |
Andrea Ibarra, MD Keith Vogt, MD, PhD |
| University of Utah School of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology |
Harriet W. Hopf, MD, FASA |
| University of Virginia Department of Anesthesiology |
Katherine T. Forkin, MD Zhiyi Zuo, MD, PhD |
| Washington University in St. Louis Department of Anesthesiology |
Bradley Fritz, MD, MSCI |
| Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Anesthesiology |
Kane O. Pryor, MD |
| Yale School of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology |
Robert B. Schonberger MD, MHS, MHCDS |
Visit FAER’s dedicated AGC website for more information on this year’s competition. If your department is interested in taking part in next year’s AGC, please contact [email protected]. Additional invitations and information will be sent in 2024.
*Total resident donors were calculated based on self-identification provided by donors when submitting their gift.
THE FOUNDATION FOR ANESTHESIA EDUCATION AND RESEARCH (FAER)
FAER is a related organization of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). For over 35 years, FAER has been dedicated to developing the next generation of physician-investigators in anesthesiology. Charitable contributions and support to FAER help fuel the future of anesthesiology through scientific discovery. Funding priorities include: Research, Education, and Training. At the time of this article's publication, FAER has awarded more than $56 million in research grants and programs since 1986. To donate to FAER, visit FAER.org/donate.
Curated by: BH
Last updated by: BH
Date of last update: January 12, 2024
email: [email protected]
site: FAER.org
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