Faculty News and Awards

Faculty at the University of Washington come from all over the world to teach, learn new techniques and conduct research. Faculty have offices and labs in many of the city's hospitals. They have a wide range of interests and residents are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to learn varied approaches to anesthesia practice.

The Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine is pleased to highlight a few of the recent accomplishments by its faculty.

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October – December 2015

Congratulations, Dr. Jennifer Rabbitts!

Jennifer Rabbitts, MB ChB — Dr. Rabbitts was awarded a one year grant, in the amount of $32,200 from the Translational Research Ignition Projects Program, Center for Clinical and Translational Research, Seattle Children’s Hospital for the project period: October 1, 2015—September 30, 2016, in support of her study entitled “Persistent Pain and Poor HRQOL Related to Pediatric Surgery: child, parent, and provider perspectives.”

Congratulations, Dr. Emily Law!

Emily Law, PhD — On 9/25/2015, Dr. Law received an NIH award in the amount of $139,238 in support of her study on “Psychosocial and Family Risk in Pediatric Chronic Migraine.”

Congratulations, Dr. Anne Lynn!

Anne Lynn, MD — On 8/27/2015, Dr. Lynn received a Subaward in the amount of $43,780 from a nonprofit organization in support of her study on “Neurocognitive Outcomes 5 Years after Infant Anesthesia.”

Congratulations, Dr. Wang!

Wang Wang, PhD, from the University of Washington in Seattle, is the 2015 recipient of the Gail Patrick Innovation Award. His project focuses on innovative imaging studies to examine the mechanism by which hydrogen peroxide stimulates insulin secretion and whether this mechanism is disrupted in type 2 diabetes, when β-cells fail to compensate for insulin resistance. The results may define new therapeutic targets and treatments to ameliorate type 2 diabetes symptoms and complications.

*The Gail Patrick Innovation Award is granted annually to the highest scoring Innovation Award applicant. Awardees receive $50,000 per year for 2 years to support the pursuit of an innovative idea that advances the American Diabetes Association’s efforts to prevent, treat, and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by the disease. | +From Diabetes Pro Quarterly, Fall 2015.

Congratulations, Drs. Tauben, Loeser, Doorenbos and Deb Gordon!

These Co-Directors have received a five-year NIH Funded Center grant for the project period: September 15, 2015—October 14, 2019, in support of their study on “NIH Center of Excellence in Pain Education.” This project will create evidence-based, learner-centered, interprofessional pain management curriculum resources to be delivered to students in all six UW health science schools, at partner universities, and nationally at professional conferences and online, in addition to other providers. APM faculty on the grant include: Brian Ross, MD, PhD; Greg Terman, MD, PhD; Heather Tick, MD; Brian Theodore, PhD; Dennis Turk, PhD; Monica Vavilala, MD; Gary Walco, PhD.

Congratulations, Drs. Sullivan and Theodore!

Mark Sullivan, MD, PhD and Brian Theodore, PhD — Drs. Mark Sullivan (PI) and BrianTheodore (Co-PI) have received a two-year grant in the amount of $700,000 from Pfizer for the project period: September 15, 2015—September 15, 2017, in support of their study on “PainTracker Self-Manager (PTSM): a web-based platform to promote and track chronic pain self-management and other treatment outcomes.” This project will develop and test PTSM, that can support multimodal care in a wide variety of specialty and primary care settings. PTSM is a tool that will help assess, engage, activate and support patient’s efforts to self manage their chronic pain in collaboration with their physicians and other providers.

Congratulations, Dr. Bhananker!

Sanjay Bhananker, MB BS FRCA — Dr. Sanjay Bhananker has received a one-year grant in the amount of $94,214 from The Medicines Company for the project period: August 4, 2015—June 29, 2016, in support of his study on “An open label evaluation of the safety and clinical utility of the active, separated system with enhanced controller (SSEC) fentanyl 40 mcg for the management of acute postoperative pain in pediatric patients 12 to less than 18 years of age.”

Congratulations, Dr. Vavilala!

Dr. Monica Vavilala, MD (PI) has received a two-year grant in the amount of $440,690 from NIH/ NINDS for the project period: September 01, 2015—August 31, 2017, in support of her study on “Vasoactive Agents and Cerebral Outcomes in Brain Injury." This research will examine whether and how choice of vasoactive agent affects brain outcomes (cerebral hemodynamics, cerebral perfusion characteristics, and the NVU) in pediatric TBI by age and sex.

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Dr. Monica Vavilala (Co-PI) has also received a five-year grant in the amount of $173,745 from U Pennsyl-vania/NIH flow-through, for the project period: September 01, 2015—August 31, 2020, in support of her study on “Pressor Choice Influences Protection of Autoregulation in Brain Injury.” This proposal leverages translational expertise in relation to children with TBI and fosters bi-directional translational research.

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Push Against Gun Violence Gets $500,000 in Federal Help

$50,000 will go to Harborview’s Injury Prevention & Research Center to partially fund research into gun violence prevention.

Dr. Monica Vavilala, Director of the Injury Prevention and Research Center at Harborview, said “Past research shows that survivors of shootings are 20 times more likely to be shot again… The question for researchers is how to prevent the survivors from ending up back at the hospital... We are trying to figure out an effective strategy to decrease the morbidity that these patients have and to improve their quality and quantity of life...”

“The research will involve a randomized controlled trial in which half the hospital’s adult survivors of gun violence will receive the usual medical care and social-work engagement, she said. The other half will receive enhanced care over six months that could address employment, housing, mental-health issues and more…” “We’re very grateful for the opportunity to launch what we think is a really important initiative which is how best to prevent future gun crimes and future injuries from gun violence.”

For more on this story, go to: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/push-against-gun-violence-gets-500000-in-federal-help/

Congratulations, Dr. Opp!

Mark Opp, PhD — Dr. Mark Opp has been appointed the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Neurobiology of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms. The journal is published by Elsevier, and was officially launched at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in October.

Congratulations, Dr. Domino!

Karen B. Domino, MD, MPH — Congratulations to Dr. Karen Domino on completion of her role as chair of the ASA annual meeting program this year.

Congratulations, Dr. Souter!

Karen J. Souter, MBBS, FRCA, MACM was elected President of AACPD – Association of Anesthesiology Core Program Directors for a two year term: 2015 – 2017.
Representing Program Directors of all 131 anesthesiology residency programs in the U.S.A.

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April – June 2015

Congratulations, Dr. Thilen!

Stephan Thilen, MD, MS Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, UW Medical Center, received a grant award in the amount of $39,835 from the UW Royalty Research Fund in support of his ongoing study on: *"Outcomes Associated with Preoperative Medical Consultation in Medicare Patients."

Congratulations, Dr. Opp!

Mark R. Opp, PhD, Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, received a grant award in the amount of $424,875 from NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for the project period: 05/01/2015—04/30/2017, in support of his study on "Astrocytes, Sleep and Neuroinflammation." This project uses novel transgenic mice and pharmacogenetic tools to test hypotheses that astrocytes play a critical role in the inflammatory responses to sleep loss.

Congratulations, Dr. Tian!

Rong Tian, MD, PhD, Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, South Lake Union, received $2.7 million (total cost over 4 years) from the NHLBI to test novel strategies for targeting fatty acid oxidation in hearts with pathological hypertrophy. She has also received $3.1 million (total cost over 4 years) from the NHLBI to study glucose and amino acid metabolism in cardiac stress responses. The NHLBI and Office of Dietary Supplement has awarded her $478,000 (total cost over 2 years) to perform the first in human safety and tolerability study of nicotinamide riboside in heart failure. Amgen has recently awarded her $87,000 (total cost for 1 year) to study cardiac metabolism in heart failure with preserved systolic function.

Congratulations, Drs. Nair & Vavilala!

Bala Nair, MD, Research Associate Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, UW Medical Center, and Monica Vavilala, MD, Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, received a grant award in the amount of $130,234 from the Coulter Foundation for the project period: June 1, 2015—May 31, 2016, in support of their study on "Evaluation of Smart Anesthesia Manager" (SAM) Integrated with Multiple Anesthesia Information Systems to Deliver Real-time Decision Support and Guidance Funding Source."

Congratulations, Dr. Roche!

Anthony M. Roche, MB ChB, Associate Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, received (in conjunction with Dr. Wendy Thomas) a grant award in the amount of $30,000 from Global WACh—W.H. Coulter Foundation Seed Grants, in support of their study on "Novel, Affordable Anesthetic Delivery Device that Leverages Inexpensive Phase Change Materials (PCMs) to Control Device Temperatures.". (Dr. Thomas is UW Associate Professor & Vice Chair, Academic Affairs, in the Department of Bioengineering.)

Congratulations, Dr. Rubens!

Daniel Rubens, MD BS, FAZSCA, Associate Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine: "Daniel Rubens is onto something. Rubens has spent the last 11 years doing research...working on a hypothesis that SIDS could be related to an undetected, inner ear dysfunction that makes it difficult for a baby to automatically rouse and reposition itselfwhen it is having trouble breathing. They don't have the trigger that tells them to move and access fresh air, so they just stop breathing. They suffocate." —Broeder, Nicole "One Seattle Children's doctor thinks he's close to stopping SIDS." Seattle Times 3 April 2015. (For more on this story, visit the Seattle Times article online here.)

Congratulations, Dr. Sharar!

Sam Sharar, MD, Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, was featured in the UW Health Sciences NewsBeat (issue 05/28/15) in the article: "Virtual-reality games reduce pain. Now to answer why." From the article:

"For more than 15 years, burn patients at HMC have donned a head-mounted display to play a virtual-realtiy game while undergoing painful dressing changes and other therapies...

"If we can tease out the biological basis of how virtual reality reduces the perception of pain, we should be able to make the treatment more effective," said Dr. Sam Sharar, a UW professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine...

Sharar and colleagues Hunter Hoffman, David Patterson and Todd Richards have been conducting a series of experiments by using functional magnetic resonance imaging to observe the brains of courageous voluneers as they play the game while submitting to a painful events...

Hoffman, a research scientist in the Human Photonics Lab, and Patterson, a UW professor of psychology, developed the original SnowWorld system in the 1990s. Richards is a professor of radiology and an expert in functional brain imaging. Sharar has a special interest in non-pharmacological methods of pain management.

Read more on this story online here.

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January – March 2015

Congratulations, Dr. Sharma!

Deepak Sharma, MBBS, MD, DM Professor & Division Chief Neuroanesthesia & Perioperative Neuroscience, is being awarded Virginia and Prentice Bloedel Endowed Professorship effective July 1st, 2015.

This endowed professorship is awarded to outstanding faculty who have demonstrated, through leadership in professional activities and research, expertise in their respective discipline.

Congratulations, Dr. Mackensen!

Burkhard Mackensen, MD, PhD, FASE Professor & Chief, CT Anesthesia, was elected as a member-at-large to the Council on Perioperative Echocardiography (COPE) board of the American Society of Echocardiography for 2015. All terms are for two years, and may be renewed once for these positions. He will assume the position in June at the ASE Scientific Sessions in Boston.

COPE is an important liaison body within the ASE as it provides a forum for cardiologists and cardiothoracic anesthesiologists to connect and collaborate (e.g., ASE guidelines development, special perioperative echocardiography projects, etc.).

Congratulations, Dr. Vavilala!

Monica Vavilala, MD Professor of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics; Director, Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center (HIPRC),received a grant award in the amount of $75,000 from Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, for the period: January 2015 through June 2015, in support of her study on "Traumatic Brain Injury School Transitions and Educator needs."

Congratulations, Drs. Doorenbos & Theodore!

Ardith Z. Doorenbos, PhD, RN, Professor, Biobehavioral Nursing & Health Systems, UWMC & Brian Theodore, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, (Division of Pain Medicine Associate Investigators/co-PIs) have received a grant award in the amount of $1.0 million over 2 years (sub-contract with the Department of Defense Intramural Award from Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program [Funding @W81XWH-14-DMRDP-CRI-IRA-MTI]).

This funding will support their study on "Enhancing the Success of Functional Restoration using Integrative Pain Therapies: a Comparative Effectiveness Analysis in Active Duty Service Members with Chronic Pain."

 

Congratulations, Dr. Wang!

Wang Wang, MD, PhD UW Medicine Assistant Professor, Wang Lab, MMC, SLU, has received a 2-year grant in the ammount of $100,000 from the American Diabetes Association in support of his study entitled: "Source and sites of action of hydrogen peroxide in mitochondria and cytosol of pancreatic islets." The goal of this Project is to develop a novel methodology for the real time evaluation of compartmentalized hydrogen peroxide (H202) in pancreatic islets.

Congratulations, Dr. Ben-Ari!

Alon Ben-Ari, MD Assistant Professor, VAPSHCS, Dr. Alon Ben-Ari's paper titled "Text Mining the EMR for Modeling and Predicting Suicidal Behavior among U.S. Veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War" has won the best paper in the Healthcare track at the 48th Annual HICSS (Hawaiian INternational Conference on System Sciences) held January 5-8, 2015.

HICSS is one of the longest-standing continuously running scientific conferences. Technically co-sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society, this conference brings together researchers from over 40 countries.

Congratulations, Dr. Krishnamoorthy!

Vijay Krishnamoorthy, MD Assistant Professor & T-32 Research Fellow, Dr. Vijay Krishnamoorthy's study was quoted in HSNewsBeat online article: Some Rejected Donor Hearts are Transplant Viable. *....Despite a dire shortage of organ donors, transplant teams turn down about one in four hearts from brain-dead donors because their hearts appear to pump poorly.

"This study suggets," said study co-author Dr. Vijay Krishnamoorthy, UW Acting Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, "that we shouldn't decide whether to use a heart on the basis of just one early evaluation, .... If the initial echocardiogram detects heart dysfunction, we should maintain these patients with optimal supportive care and check again in one or two days. In many cases, the heart will have recovered and be suitable for transplantation."

For more on the story, see the article here.

* This study was conducted at Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center.

 

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September – December 2014

Congratulations, Dr. Michalowski!

Piotr Michalowski, MD, PhD UW Medicine Clinical Professor, was selected by the search committee as Permanent Chief of the Anesthesiology Service at VA Puget Sound Health Care System, effective December 4th.

Congratulations, Carlos!

Carlos Delgado-Upegui, MD, Acting Instructor/Obstetric Anesthesia Senior Fellow, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine has been selected into the Inaugural Class for UW Certificate Program in Patient Safety and Quality. This first class of seventeen highly qualified individuals comes from a wide variety of specialties and administrative positions, including internal medicine, surgical specialties, pediatrics, anesthesiology, psychiatry, emergency medicine, critical care, quality improvement, and the Center for Clinical Excellence. Participants range from residents to Associate Professors and bring a rich perspective and history to the program.

July – August 2014

Congratulations, Dr. Patel!

Kushang Patel, PhD, MPH, Research Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine received Fellow status by the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) in support of his outstanding and continuing work in the field of gerontology.

Congratulations, Dr. Jimenez!

Nathalia Jimenez, MD, MPH (PI), Assistant Professor, Seattle Children's Hospital received the NIH K-23 award in support of her 5 year study: Disparities in Disability after Traumatic Brain Injury for Hispanic Children. The project period is from July 1, 2014 - June 30, 2019.

Congratulations, Dr. Souter!

Mike Souter, MB ChB, FRCA, Professor, Harborview Medical Center, has been awarded Fellowship status by the Neurocritical Care Society (FCNS), on the basis of contributions to the field of neurocritical care in the areas of program development, scholarly activity, and leadership.

We congratulate Dr. Souter on this appointment as an acknowledgement of his outstanding and continuing work in the field of neurocritical care.

Congratulations, Dr. Loland!

Vanessa Loland, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, UW Medical Center, has been named as the new Chair of the department of Clinical Competency Committee. We thank Dr. Loland for agreeing to take on the immense responsibility of this office.

We also acknowledge and thank Dr. Anne Lynn for having filled this office for the past two years.

Congratulations, Dr. Rabbitts!

Jennifer Rabbitts, MB, ChB, Assistant Professor, Seattle Children's Hospital was awarded an NIH K-32 Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & HUman Development Award in the amount of $636,865 to support her study on "Pain and Health Related Quality of Life in Children after Surgery." Project Period: 8/25/2014--06/30/2019.

Congratulations, Dr. Wang!

Wang Wang, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, UW Medical Center, MMC, SLU, received an award from the Diabetes Research Center (DRC) in the amount of $36,000 per year for two years (7/01/2014--6/30/2016) to support his Pilot and Feasibility project entitled "Mechanistic Coupling between Obesity and Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy."

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June 2014

Congratulations, Dr. Christopher Ciliberto!

Christopher "Cili" Ciliberto, MD, Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine has been appointed Interim Director of OB Anesthesia.

Congratulations Dr. Vavilala!

Monica Vavilala, MD, UW Medicine Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, was invited to serve as a member of the Surgery, Anesthesia and Trauma Study Section, National Institutes of Health Center for Scientific Review for the term beginning July 01, 2014 and ending June 30, 2020.

Congratulations, Dr. Tauben!

Dr. David Tauben, Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine has been appointed Chief of the Division of Pain Medicine.

Congratulations, Dr. Stephen Kolwicz, Jr.!

Stephen C. Kolwicz, Jr., PhD, UW Medicine Acting Instructor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine received The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Foundation award in support of his one year pilot study: The Effect of Enhanced Fatty Acid Oxidation on Exercise Capacity and Performance. Results of the study will provide insight into the efficacy of the potential use of acetyl CoA carboxylase2 (ACC2) inhibitors in the treatment of diabestes and obsesity.

Congratulations, Dr.Judith Turner!

Judith A. Turner, PhD, UW Medicine Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Clinical Faculty, Division of Pain Medicine at Center fo Pain Relief, Roosevelt, has been elected next President of The International Association of the Study of Pain—the most prestigious pain society in the world. Dr. Turner is the third UW Pain faculty member to have been elected to this office.

Congratulations, Dr. Tonya Palermo!

Tonya M. Palermo, PhD, Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, received notice of Grant Award for her K24 competitive renewal application to fund an additional 5 years on her study: Innovations in Pediatric Pain Research.

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May 2014

Congratulations, Dr. Nicholas Kassebaum!

Nicholas Kassebaum, MD, Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, had his paper Global, regional, and national levels and causes of maternal mortality during 1990—2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 published in The Lancet, May 2, 2014 (early online publication).
Read the complete article>

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April 2014

Congratulations, Dr. Kai Togashi!

Kai Togashi, MD, Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, was awarded the Roizen Anesthesia Research Foundation New Investigator Grant for his project: "Randomzied Study of the Clinical Impact of Surgical Correction of Tricuspid Insufficiency in Implantable LVAD Patients." The project period is from July 1, 2014 - June 30, 2016.

Congratulations, Dr. Michele Curatolo!

Michele Curatolo, MD, PhD, Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, has had the degree of Doctor Medicinae Honoris Causa for his distinguished efforts in the field of medical research conferred on him by the Aalborg University of Denmark.

Congratulations, Dr. Stephen Kolwicz, Jr.!

Stephen C. Kolwicz, Jr., PhD, Acting Instructor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, has had awarded an American College of Sports Medicine Foundation research endowment grant for a one year pilot study: The Effect of Enhanced Fatty Acid Oxidation on Exercise Capacity and Performance.

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March 2014

Congratulations, Dr. Burkhard Mackensen!

G. Burkhard Mackensen, MD, PhD, FASE, Professor & Division Chief, CT Anesthesia, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, by vote of the general membership of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA), was elected to the Board of Directors of SCA for a 3-year term. He was also invited to serve on the scientific program committee for the 2015 & 2016 meetings.

Congratulations, Dr. Mark Opp!

Mark Opp, MD, Professor & Vice Chair for Basic Research, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, was able to purchase a Li-Cor Odyssey CLx Infrared Imaging System that can be used for Western blots, ELISA, Protein Arrays, and more with a Seattle Medical Foundation Shared Instrumentation grant of $55,000.

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Congratulations, Drs. Sedensky & Morgan!

Margaret M. Sedensky, MD (co-PI) and Philip G. Moran, MD (co-PI), Professors in the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, for their award of a 1 RO1 GM 105696 Grant in support of their study: A Mouse Model Linking Anesthetic Sensitivity to Mitochondrial Function. The award is for 4 years for a total of $2.22 million.

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February 2014

Congratulations, UW TelePain!

Mark Sullivan, MD, PhD, (PI) Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, and faculty at UW Medicine Center for Pain Relief, and David Tauben, MD, (Co- Investigator) Pain Medicine Division Chief and UW Tele-Pain Medical Director, received a COPE (Collaborative Opioid Prescribing Education) Award designated for UW TelePain, a program that provides case consultation about chronic pain.

Congratulations, Dr. Andy Bowdle!

T. Andrew Bowdle MD, PhD, Professor & Director of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Simulation, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine has been awarded an ASPF grant for his project: "Study of the Implementation and Performance of the APSF Pre-anesthetic Induction Patient Safety (PIPS) Checklist."

Congratulations, Drs. Palermo & Sedensky!

Tonya M. Palermo, PhD, Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, and Margaret M. Sedensky, MD, Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine for getting their T32 Anesthesiology & Perioperative Training Grant renewed.

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January 2014

Congratulations, Dr. Mark Opp!

Mark Opp, MD, Professor & Vice Chair for Basic Research, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine; UW Medicine Research & Education Endowed Chair in Anesthesiology, has been appointed to the organizing committee for TransNIH Sleep / Pain Workshop, National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine.

Congratulations, Dr. David Dorsey!

David Dorsey, MD, was selected as the new Academic Chief Resident for 2014-2015.

Congratulations, Dr. Brian Hawkins!

Brian J. Hawkins, PhD, UW Medicine Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine & Adjunct Assistant Professor, Pathology, received a Bridge Funding Grant from the UW Office of Research for his research, "Mitochondria-to-nucleus Communication via the Permeability Transition Pore."

Congratulations, Dr. Stephan Thilen!

Stephan Thilen, MD, MS, UW Medicine Assistant Professor, Dept. of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, UWMC, had his JAMA article, "Preoperative Consultations for Medicare Patients Undergoing Cataract Surgery," featured in the Seattle Times on January 3, 2014.

• Read the Seattle Times article.
• Read the original study in JAMA.
• Read JAMA commentary on article.

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January 2014

Congratulations, Dr. Greg Terman!

Greg Terman, MD, PhD, UW Medicine Professor, Dept. of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, UWMC, has assumedthe role of Interim Chief of theAcute Pain Service, as ofJanuary 10th, 2014.

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November 2013

Congratulations Dr. Vavilala!

Monica Vavilala, MD, UW Medicine Professor, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, was invited to serve on the UW School of Medicine's Appointments and Promotion Council for a 3-year term.

In addition, Dr. Vavilala was awarded a UO1 grant for her project, "Multiple Medical Therapies for Pediatric TBI: Comparative Effectiveness Approach (ADAPT)." The project runs from 7/1/13 to 6/30/18, and is sponsored by University of Pittsburgh/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

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October 2013

Congratulations Dr. Irakli Soulakvelidze & Angela Roof, PA!

Dr. Irakli Soulakvelidze & Angela Roof, PA, with the UWMC Center for Pain Relief, are one of UWMC's Fall 2013 UW Medicine Cares Award team recipients! Dr. Soulakvelidze is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Program Director, Pain Fellowship Program, Dept. Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine.

The UW Medicine Cares Award is based on UW Medicine's Service Culture Guidelines, which are: respect privacy and confidentiality; communicate effectively; conduct myself professionally; be accountable; be committed to my colleagues and to UW Medicine.

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August 2013

Seattle Met Magazine "Top Doctors 2013"

The following Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine doctors were chosen tops in their field for 2013 by "Seattle Met Magazine".

• Alan Artru, MD
  Professor, UW Medical Center
• Jeremy Geiduschek, MD
  Professor, Seattle Children's Hospital
• Gene Peterson, MD, PhD
  Associate Professor, UW Medical Center

Over 1,100 doctors, nurses, and physician's assistants in the Seattle metropolitan area participated in Seattle Met's 2013 survey. They were asked: If you or a loved one needed medical care, whom would you choose? An anonymous advisory panel of administrators, doctors, and nurses from local hospitals, clinics, and practices vetted the list and shared their expertise, further authenticating the results. The final list of 722 top practitioners represents roughly the top 10 percent of nominations in each specialty. As of press time, all the top-ranked doctors and nurse practitioners were certified to practice in their fields by the Washington State Department of Health.

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Seattle Magazine "Top Doctors 2013"

The 414 best physicians in the Puget Sound region, as chosen by their peers, include the following Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine doctor:

• Charles Haberkern MD, MPH
  Professor, Seattle Children's Hospital

Thousands of local doctors were asked this question: To whom would you send a loved one for medical care? More than 4,500 doctors submitted nearly 15,000 nominations in a peer-to-peer survey process. These are the doctors to whom other doctors turn when they or their families need care.

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