Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
2026-2027 Educational Seed Grant
Each year, $8000 in departmental funds are made available to support innovative new educational initiatives. We are accepting proposals for all types of educational research or curriculum development, but our special emphasis for this grant cycle is Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare Education. We are looking for novel and impactful proposals regarding the use of AI in the classroom, sim lab, or operating room to improve either the education or the evaluation of health care trainees or professionals.
This Educational Seed Grant provides a maximum of $8,000 per project. Applications will be accepted from current University of Pittsburgh/UPMC Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative residents, fellows, and faculty, in addition to medical students from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine with departmental faculty mentors. The purpose of the grant is to inspire and assist aspiring department-related anesthesiology investigators who do not have current funding to start an educational project. Both curriculum development projects and research projects are eligible. Basic, translational, and clinical research projects are NOT eligible.
Categories
- Educational Research
- Curriculum Development
Application Cycle and Timeline
For funding commencing each July, the submission deadline will be April 15 of that year. Awardees will be notified each June.
Direct and questions and email submission to aneseducation@upmc.edu and CC: Barb Novak Chismar, Anesthesiology Education Project Manager chisbn@upmc.edu
Eligibility
Must be a current anesthesiology faculty, fellow, or resident in the Pitt/UPMC Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, or a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
The proposed project must not have previously received any prior non-departmental extramural research funding.
Medical students or anesthesiology trainees (residents or fellows) submitting projects as principal investigators must have a mentor with a primary academic or clinical faculty appointment in the Pitt/UPMC Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine.
Requirements
Awardees must agree to present the completed study at one or more of the following meetings: 1) UPMC GME Leadership Conference, 2) the annual Safar Symposium and Multi-Departmental Trainees Research Day, 3) the PSA/Pennsylvania Anesthesiology Resident Research Conference (PARRC), 4) UPSOM Medical Education Day,
Awardees must also submit for presentation at a major national meeting (ASA, SEA, IARS, or others) following completion of the project.
Resultant publications are expected.
Please download the policy and procedures, budget form, application checklist, and proposal instructions
- Policy and Procedures (PDF)
- Budget Form (Excel)
Please direct any questions to aneseducation@upmc.edu and CC: Barb Novak Chismar, Anesthesiology Education Project Manager chisbn@upmc.edu
James Ibinson, MD, PhD, Co-Chair, Educational Seed Grant Committee, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine.
David Metro, MD, FASA, Co-Chair, Educational Seed Grant Committee, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine.
Past Awards
2024 and 2025 Funding Cycles
Program suspended — under review and revision.
2023 Funding Cycle
Hong Tram Duran, MD (PI), Steven L. Orebaugh, MD (Mentor): Virtual Reality in Anesthesia: Curriculum Development
2022 Funding Cycle
Mackenzie Noonan Haase, MD (PI), Steven L. Orebaugh, MD (Mentor): Developing, Implementing, and Testing a VR Simulation to Teach Peripheral Nerve Blockade
July 2021 Funding Cycle
Gaurav Chauhan, MD (PI), Trent Emerick, MD, MBA (Mentor):
Incorporating Ultrasound-guided procedures as part of the Chronic Pain Fellowship Curriculum
July 2020 Funding Cycle
Steve McHugh, MD (PI), Michael Gemma, MD (Co-I), Leath Abdullah, MD (Co-I), Using VR training modules to prepare trainees for their cardiac anesthesiology rotation
Daniel Huettner, MD (PI), Steven Orebaugh, MD (Mentor), Lindsay Hahn, MD, MEd (Co-I), Regional Anesthesia Course for Residents Utilizing Cadaver Limbs
July 2019 Funding Cycle
Lindsay Hahn, MD, Med (faculty mentor: Steve L. Orebaugh, MD), Teaching Medical Students Peripheral Nerve Block Using Ultrasound
July 2018 Funding Cycle
Kristin Ondecko Ligda, MD, Implementation of a Formal Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for Anesthesiology Residents
Amanda Monahan, MD, Evaluation of an Innovative Checklist Intervention on Medical Student Performance and Perceptions of Clinical Teaching Quality in an Anesthesiology Clerkship
Phillip Carullo, MD and Phillip Adams, DO, The Impact of a Mindfulness App on Anesthesia Resident Wellbeing
July 2017 Funding Cycle
Kaarin Michaelsen, MD, PhD (faculty mentor: Steve L. Orebaugh, MD), Teaching Medical Students Anatomy for Regional Anesthesia Using Ultrasound
Daniel R. Mandell, MD (faculty mentors: Michael Boisen, MD; Kathirvel Subramaniam, MD, MPH, FASE), Evaluation of Anesthesiology Resident Competence and Clinical Impact of a Structured Point-of-Care Ultrasound Training Program