The University of Pittsburgh/UPMC Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine was honored to serve as one of 45 host institutions nationwide for the 2025 Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) Medical Student Anesthesia Research Fellowship (MSARF) program. This summer fellowship aims to inspire future physician-scientists to pursue careers in anesthesiology and perioperative medicine by immersing them in high-impact research and clinical training. FAER's program provided 80 medical students from across the country with an eight-week research experience within academic anesthesiology departments.
This year, our department welcomed Alexander Estright and Derrick Liu, two exceptional second-year medical students who were selected as 2025 FAER MSARF fellows.
| Alexander Estright, a Pittsburgh native and current medical student at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, holds a BS in Neuroscience from Case Western. Under the mentorship of Kimberly Howard-Quijano, MD, MS, FASE, Alex conducted research on thoracic spinal cord oxytocin expression and administration in porcine models of chronic and acute myocardial ischemia. This work seeks to identify non-invasive neuromodulatory strategies to reduce ischemia-induced sympathoexcitation and arrhythmias.
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| Derrick Liu, a second-year student at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, earned both a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. Mentored by Keith M. Vogt, MD, PhD, FASA, Derrick contributed to projects examining the effects of inhalational anesthetics—specifically nitrous oxide and sevoflurane—on cognitive function and pain perception using functional MRI and behavioral paradigms. His work aims to advance our understanding of how these agents modulate acute pain and memory encoding during surgery.
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Alex and Derrick will present their research at the FAER MSARF poster session during ANESTHESIOLOGY 2025, the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ annual meeting, to be held October 10–14 in San Antonio, Texas.
2025 FAER MSARF Poster Presentations
- “Oxytocin-Mediated Spinal Cord Modulation in Chronic Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Models”
Alexander W. Estright, BS; Yuki Kuwabara, MD; Abigail Hellman, PhD; Sydney Callenberger, BS; Siamak Salavatian, PhD; Aman Mahajan, MD, PhD, MBA; Kimberly Howard-Quijano, MD, MS, FASE - “Brain Modulation by Sevoflurane and Nitrous Oxide During Memory Encoding and Periodic Painful Stimulation: A 3 T Functional MRI Study in Healthy Young Adults”
Derrick X. Liu; Taylor L. Duffy; Marcus A. Simmons, MD; Courtney N. Kozdron, James W. Ibinson, MD, PhD; Keith M. Vogt, MD, PhD, FASA
Congratulations to Alex and Derrick for their outstanding contributions and thank you to the faculty mentors and research teams who helped support their work and foster their development as future leaders in anesthesiology research.