Unfortunately, we are sharing the sad news that our former faculty member Dr. D. Ryan Cook, an accomplished pediatric anesthesiologist who served in numerous key roles throughout the history of our department, passed away on June 20th.
David Ryan Cook, MD, MBA, earned his BS in chemistry and MD at the University of Pittsburgh and completed his anesthesiology residency with our department in 1969. After completing a fellowship at Yale and spending a few years in San Antonio on the faculty at the University of Texas and serving as a Major in the US Air Force, he returned to Pittsburgh and joined the faculty of our department in 1972. Dr. Cook was the Chief Anesthesiologist at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh from 1977-1999 and served as our Interim Department Chair for 15 months between the time that Dr. Peter Safar stepped down and Dr. Peter Winter took on the role in 1979. He also served for a brief time as Interim Director of our Residency Program. Dr. Cook earned a secondary faculty appointment in Pharmacology in 1985 and completed the University of Pittsburgh MBA program in 1989. He left Pittsburgh in the early 2000s to work at Duke University Medical Center and returned to Pittsburgh a few years later.
Dr. Cook authored hundreds of scholarly papers and book chapters throughout his career and edited the textbooks Neonatal Anesthesia with Dr. Joseph Marcy (1988) and Anesthetic Principles for Organ Transplantation with Dr. Peter Davis (1994). In 2009, he received the American Academy of Pediatrics Robert M. Smith award for his contributions to the field of pediatric anesthesiology.
Our deepest sympathy and condolences to Dr. Cook’s family, friends, and colleagues, who will undoubtedly miss him immensely. Please visit the below link for additional information:
Dr. Cook in the OR, mid 1990s
Dr. Cook, late 1980s