IARS Announces $600,000 in Anesthesia Research Awards

Newswise — July 7, 2014 – The International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) announces the recipients of $600,000 in grants for the 2014 IARS Mentored Research Awards. The awards are part of the IARS grants program, which has issued more than $14 million in anesthesia research grants over the last thirty years.

The four promising new investigators, each receiving awards of $150,000, will be conducting research to further the understanding of clinical practice in anesthesiology and related sciences. The IARS Mentored Research Awards are intended to help create future leaders and prepare applicants to apply for independent research funding.

“These applications were submitted by outstanding, well-trained candidates who were under the tutelage of excellent mentors. In addition, the sponsoring institutions are providing substantial support to the candidates,” writes Piyush Patel, MD, FRCPC, Professor of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of California, San Diego.

The award winners and their projects are:

Miles Berger, MD, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center for his project, “The trajectory and significance of perioperative changes in AD biomarkers.” This study represents the first long-term, properly powered prospective clinical study to determine the long-term trajectory of perioperative changes in AD biomarkers, and to correlate these AD biomarker changes with changes in cognitive function and brain connectivity.

Minjae Kim, MD, of Columbia University Medical Center for his project, “Assessing perioperative comorbidities through latent class analysis.” Current methods of risk stratification do not account for combinations of comorbidities and do not identify the combination of comorbidities that are actually present in the patients undergoing surgery. Dr. Kim will examine patterns of comorbidities and risk factors that are associated with adverse perioperative outcomes in patients.

Nadia Lunardi, MD, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine for her project, “Anesthesia-induced impairments of developmental synaptic plasticity.” While many studies have focused on the morphological fate of neurons dying by GA-induced developmental apoptosis, little is known about what happens to the organization and function of surviving synapses. Dr. Lunardi’s aim is to decipher the mechanisms of GA-induced impairment of developmental synaptic transmission so that tools can be developed to target its causative pathways and provide safer anesthesia.

Rene Przkora, MD, PhD, of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston for his project, “Preconditioning of Older Patients undergoing Hip Joint Replacement Surgery.” Joint replacement surgery is becoming the most frequent surgical intervention, exceeding surgeries for cancer or cardiovascular disease. The expansion of research in anesthesiology into the perioperative period will strengthen the future of our specialty and is in support of the surgical home concept.

For more information about the IARS Awards and Grants Program, visit www.iars.org/awards.

### About the IARS The International Anesthesia Research Society is a nonpolitical, not-for-profit medical society founded in 1922 to advance and support scientific research and education related to anesthesia, and to improve patient care through basic research. The IARS contributes nearly $1 million annually to fund anesthesia research; provides a forum for anesthesiology leaders to share information and ideas; maintains a worldwide membership of more than 15,000 physicians, physician residents, and others with doctoral degrees, as well as health professionals in anesthesia-related practice; sponsors the SmartTots initiative in partnership with the FDA; sponsors the resident education initiative OpenAnesthesia.org; and publishes the monthly Anesthesia & Analgesia journal in print and online as well as the clinical companion journal A&A Case Reports, published semi-monthly.