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Four Department Winners at 2016 Multi-Departmental Trainees' Research Day

"Headshots of the four department winners"
2016 department winners, L to R: Phillip Adams, DO; Stephanie Puig, PhD; Michael Chiang; Grace Lim, MD

The 14th annual Safar Symposium and sixth annual Multi-Departmental Trainees’ Research Day was held on May 16-17, 2016. This yearly event honors the late Dr. Peter Safar (founding Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine) and his wife Eva for their contributions to the scientific community and highlights current research in areas spanning Dr. Safar’s interests.

The two-day event kicked off with patient safety and simulation sessions at the Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation Education and Research (WISER). After opening remarks from John M. O’Donnell, CRNA, MSN, DrPh (Univ. Pittsburgh, Dept. of Nurse Anesthesia), presentations began, followed by a tour of WISER:

  • “The Role of Simulation-based Procedural Skills Training in Patient Safety” by Andrew Musits, MD, Univ. Pittsburgh Dept. of Emergency Medicine
  •  “Is There a Doctor on Board? Turning Medical Students into First Responders with Simulation” by Adam Z. Tobias, MD, MPH, FACEP, Univ. Pittsburgh Dept. of Emergency Medicine
  •  “Managing Contrast Reactions: Preparation through Simulation” by Alisa Sumkin, DO, Univ. Pittsburgh Dept. of Radiology
  •  “Utilizing in-situ Simulation to Improve Condition A Response” by Jeff Alvarez, RN, MSN, NE-BC, Respiratory Therapy, Patient Transport, and Dialysis, UPMC East

The symposium continued on the next day at the University Club with presentations on the theme “Biomarkers in Resuscitation and Neurocritical Care.”

  • “Biomarkers for Prognostic and Predictive Enrichment Strategies” by Hector R. Wong, MD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Div. Critical Care Medicine/Univ. Cincinnati, Dept. Pediatrics
  • “Biomarkers in Cardiac Arrest” by Michael W. Donnino, MD, Dept. of Emergency Medicine and Div. of Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Center/ Harvard Medical School
  • “Is There a Troponin for the Kidney?” by John A. Kellum, MD, FACP, MCCM, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Dept. of Critical Care Medicine
  • “An Update on the Utilities of Biofluid-based TBI Biomarkers” by Kevin K.W. Wang, PhD, Program for Neurotrauma, Neuroproteomics, and Biomarkers Research/ Depts. Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Physiological Science, McKnight Brain Institute, Univ. of Florida
  • “Sulfonylurea Receptor-1: From Bench to Bedside?” by Ruchira Jha, MD, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Depts. of Critical Care Medicine, Neurology, and Neurosurgery

J. Marc Simard, MD, PhD (Professor, Departments of Neurosurgery, Pathology, and Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine) presented the 36th Peter & Eva Safar Lecture, “The Sur1-Trpm4 Channel and Brain Edema.”

"Howard Gutstein, J. Marc Simard, and Pat Kochanek posing for photo"
L to R: Drs. Howard Gutstein (Chair, Dept. Anesthesiology), J. Marc Simard (2016 Safar lecture presenter), and Pat Kochanek (Director, Safar Center for Resuscitation Research)

The Multi-Departmental Trainees' Research Day took place in the afternoon. The event is a collaboration between the Departments of Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. In 2016, the Department of Neurological Surgery joined this multi-departmental event for the first time.

"Groups of people looking at a row of posters"Fifty five posters were presented, as well as five oral presentations from trainees in each of the five collaborating departments. Trainees in the Department of Anesthesiology presented 40% of the abstracts. Phillip Adams, DO, a T32 post-doctoral scholar working with mentor Cecilia W. Lo, PhD, was the oral presenter from the Department of Anesthesiology. His presentation “Increased Use of Inhaled Nitric Oxide in Single Ventricle Patients with Low Nasal Nitric Oxide Undergoing Congenital Heart Surgery” won the 2nd place oral presentation award.

"Michael Chiang receiving an award"Michael Chiang, a T32 pre-doctoral trainee working with mentor Sarah Ross, PhD, won the 1st place Department of Anesthesiology Poster Award for “Dissociating Affective Components of Cerebral Pain Pathways.” Grace Lim, MD, a T32 postdoctoral scholar working with mentors Michael Gold, PhD and Ajay D. Wasan, MD, MSc, and Stephanie Puig, PhD, a post-doctoral associate working in the lab of Howard B. Gutstein, MD, tied for the 2nd place Department of Anesthesiology poster award for “Intrapartum Pain Improvement is a Predictor for Post-partum Depression: Labor Pain Matters” and “Inhibition of the Sonic Hedgehog Pathway Prevents Morphine Tolerance,” respectively.