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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September 2020

Congratulations, Dr. Bowdle!

From: Mike Crowder
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2020 5:54 PM
Subject: Laura Cheney Professorship in Anesthesia Patient Safety

Dear Department members of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine,

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Andrew Bowdle has been named as the new holder of the Laura Cheney Professorship in Anesthesia Patient Safety. Dr. Bowdle first joined UW as an MD, PhD student in 1974 and has remained with us continuously as a resident and then as faculty reaching full Professor in 2000. Dr. Bowdle has published extensively in the area of patient safety, particular in the areas of infection control in the operating room, in drug safety, and error prevention, in general. As one external recognition of his work, he received in the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Recognition Award in 2018 for his work in safe medication administration during anesthesia care. Most of us know Dr. Bowdle as a tireless advocate locally for safety initiatives, particularly those that leverage technology to improve safety.

I also want to recognize Dr. Karen Posner, who was the inaugural holder of the Laura Cheney Professorship and recently moved to emeritus faculty status. Dr. Posner worked with Dr. Cheney and later Dr. Domino on the Closed Claims Project and authored over 80 Pubmed cited papers with either Dr. Cheney or Dr. Domino. Many of these publications have changed the practice of anesthesia and we can thank the tireless analytical work of Dr. Posner for improving the safety of our specialty. Thank you Karen!

Finally, I want to thank Dr. Cheney and his wife Pi for their foundational gift to establish the Laura Cheney Professorship in Anesthesia Patient Safety. Dr. Cheney developed the Closed Claims Project with Dr. Dick Ward and Dr. Bob Caplan then on our faculty along with then graduate student Karen Posner with support from the American Society of Anesthesiologists. The first result of this initial idea was a now classic publication reporting sudden cardiac arrests during spinal anesthesia and importantly recommendations still followed today about aggressive treatment of bradycardia and hypotension in these patients. This was the beginning of a tremendous number of similarly influential studies led by Dr. Cheney and then subsequently by Dr. Domino with Dr. Posner contributing to most of them. These publications have influenced virtually every aspect of anesthetic care and have made our specialty one that is recognized for its commitment to improving safety.

Again, congratulations Dr. Bowdle for carrying on the legacy of patient safety passed on from Dr. Cheney to Dr. Posner and now to you. We will all work with you to keep our patients safe.

Sincerely,

Mike

C. Michael Crowder, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
Allan J. Treuer Endowed Professor of Anesthesiology
Adjunct Professor of Genome Sciences
University of Washington School of Medicine
1959 NE Pacific Street, Room BB1461
Box 356540
Seattle, WA 98195-6540
206-543-2673 FAX 206-543-2958

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Congratulations, Dr. Michaelsen !

Kelly Michaelsen, MD, PhD — CA3 Resident Graduate — Dr. Michaelsen received a $250,000 FAER Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG) award ! Project Period: Two Years
Project Title: "Automated Assessment of Drug Administration in the Operating Room with Smart Eyewear Technology"
Dr. Kelly Michaelsen has been awarded the prestigious FAER Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG)! This grant helps physician-scientists develop the skills, preliminary data for subsequent grant applications, and research publications needed to become independent investigators. These grants are eligible to faculty members who have completed their core anesthesiology residency training within the past 10 years and are comprised of $250,000 in funding over a two-year period.

Congratulations, Drs. Tian and Cai !

Rong Tian, MD, PhD and Shanshan Cai, PhD — Drs. Tian and Cai have received a $2,918,606 award from NIH ! |Total Award: $2,918,606
Funding Agency: National Institute of Health (NIH) Grant
Project Period: 7/1/2020-6/30/2024
Project Title: “Mitochondrial Metabolism and Macrophage Function Post MI”
Description: To study mitochondrial function of macrophage in cardiac injury and repair. This is the first award of immunometabolism research at the MMC.

Congratulations, Dr. Hecker !

Dr. James Hecker and his multidisciplinary team comprising experts in Mechanical Engineering and Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences is the first recipient of CoMotion’s Director Award to tackle the problem of aerosol fate and persistence in medical environments. The team intends to deploy low-cost sensor networks in operating rooms to map out the spatial and temporal distribution of long-lived aerosols that may contain SARS-CoV-2 or other infectious agents in real time.
The CoMotion Director’s award supports the development of University of Washington innovations that have potential for transformational impact in areas of pressing societal need, and is a rapid response program to develop or reposition an innovation in order to make a timely difference for the greater good. The Director’s Award provides $25,000 for research activities. More information can be found on the CoMotion site.

Congratulations, Dr. Vavilala !

Dr. Monica Vavilala has been selected as the NIH Surgery, Anesthesiology, and Trauma (SAT) Study Section chairperson! This is the Anesthesiology specialty study section that reviews grant applications submitted to the NIH.

Congratulations, Dr. Mackensen !

Dr. G. Burkhard Mackensen was elected as Chair-elect, Council on Perioperative Echocardiography (COPE), American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) effective July 2019. Dr. Mackensen was also elected as Co-chair, Industry Relations Committee (IRT), American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) effective July 2019.

Congratulations, Dr. Ojo !

Dr. Bukola Ojo has been appointed Associate Director for Simulation for Anesthesiology Residents effective July 1, 2020.

Congratulations, Drs. Canlas and Clarke !

Bernard Canlas, MD and Erik Clarke, PhD have received a $727,888 award from NIH !
Total Award: $727,888 | NIH Grant | Project Period: 07/01/2020-08/31/2024
Project Title: “Integrated Treatment for Veterans with Co‐Occurring Chronic Pain and Opioid Use Disorder” (This is the first NIH funded study at VA Puget Sound looking into integrated care for buprenorphine‐prescribed veterans with chronic pain and Opioid Use Disorder.)
Project Description: “The aim of our study is to determine the efficacy of the integrated treatment ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) + ( MBRP) Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention in buprenorphine‐prescribed veterans with chronic pain and Opioid Use Disorder. The investigators will be exploring the impact of this intervention on reducing pain interference, opioid misuse, as well as pain intensity, depression, pain‐related fear, and substance misuse. The goal of this project is to increase integrated treatment options for these co-occurring disorders."

Congratulations, Dr. Raftery !

Daniel Raftery, PhD — Dr. Raftery (PI) has received a NIH grant for $1,521,734 !
Total Award: $1,521,734
Funding Agency: NIH, Ro1, NIGMS Grant
Project Period: 05/15/2020-04/30/2024
Project Title: “Modeling Homeostasis of Human Blood Metabolites”

MPI: Drs. Regnier, Raftery, Daniel — have received a NIH P30 Award for $4,301,208 !
Funding Agency: (NIH), P30, NIAMS
Project Period: 05/04/2019-02/29/2024
Project Title: “Center for Translational Muscle Research”

Congratulations, Dr. Law !

Emily F. Law, PhD — Assistant Professor — Dr. Law received a $2,624,895 award from NIH !
Funding Agency: National Institute of Child Health Behavior and Development, R01HD101471
Project Period: 04/15/2020 – 03/30/20205
Project Title: “Enhancing Efficacy of Migraine Self-Management in Children with Comorbid Insomnia”

Congratulations, Dr. Castro !

Daniel Castro, PhD — Assistant Professor — Dr. Castro received a K99 Award for $141,997 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) ! Project Period: April 2020-March 2022
Project Title: “Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Mu Opioid Receptors in Motivation and Affect”
Description: This career transition award is designed to facilitate Dr. Castro’s transition from a mentored trainee to an independent principal investigator. The experiments proposed focus on providing new training opportunities for his postdoctoral re-search, as well as providing an early means for independent funding upon obtaining a facul-ty research position. Dr. Castro’s research (under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Bruchas) seeks to understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the rewarding and motivating effects of opioids within mesocorticolimbic circuits.

Congratulations, Dr. Bruchas !

Michael Bruchas, PhD — Professor — Dr. Bruchas received a NIH award from NIH HEAL Pain Management Effectiveness Research ! | Project Period: 09/2019 – 09/2022
Project Title: Sleep, Opiate Withdrawal and the N/OFQ - NOP System
Description: Dr. Bruchas will partner with the sleep neurobiology lab led by Thomas Kilduff in the biosciences division at SRI International. The grant will address opiate-use disorder by combining the expertise in sleep and circadian neurobiology at SRI with the neurobiology and Pharmacology of addiction expertise in the Bruchas Lab. “We will determine whether and how the N/OFQ-NOPR system engages locus coeruleus circuits to reduce arousal and insomnia-related phenotypes. This will help determine whether manipulation of the N/OFQ- NOPR system is a potential useful means to treat morphine withdrawal-induced insomnia to break the cycle of opiate dependence.”

Congratulations, Dr. Li !

Li Li, MD, PhD — Assistant Professor — Dr. Li received a Foundation for Anesthesia Education & Research (FAER) Mentored Research Training Grant Award ! | Project Period: Two Years
Project Title: “Deciphering the Locus Coeruleus-Thalamic Circuit in Anesthetic Emergence”
Description: “We plan to use cutting-edge tools in in vivo brain imaging and neuromodulation to dissect the arousal circuitry between the locus coeruleus and midline thalamus in a mouse model of emergence from isoflurane anesthesia.”

Congratulations, Drs. Bruchas and Stuber!

Michael Bruchas, PhD and Garret Stuber, PhD — Drs. Bruchas and Stuber (Co-PI's) have received a P30 grant for the University of Washington Center of Excellence in Opioid Addiction Research ! | Total Award: $6,300,300 | P30 Grant | Project Period: 7/1/2019-4/30/2024
Project Title: P30 grant for the University of Washington Center of Excellence in Opioid Addiction Research (NAPE Center)
Project Description: Novel treatments for opioid addiction will require a better understanding of the functional changes in the neural circuitry controlling motivated behavior. Powerful new genetic anAdd imaging tools enable high resolution visualization in rodents of neurocircuit functions that are affected by opioids. The University of Washington Center of Excellence in Opioid diction research will provide a set of resources through its Molecular Genetics Resource Core and Imaging and Neural Circuits Core designed to facilitate opioid addiction studies by the 16 participating research groups and to support molecular and cellular analyses of neural circuit function at the high temporal and spatial resolution necessary to advance our understanding of addicted brain function.

Michael Bruchas, PhD and Garret Stuber, PhD — Drs. Bruchas and Stuber (Co-PI's) have received a 2019 Murdock Charitable Trust Grant ! | Total Award: $1,124,383
Project Description: The funds will be used for cutting-edge research equipment to enhance NAPE Center efforts for breakthrough understandings of the neurobiological, neural circuit, and behavioral basis of pain, addiction, and emotion.

Congratulations, Drs. Rabbitts and Palermo !

Jennifer Rabbitts, MBChB and Tonya Palermo, PhD — Drs. Palermo and Rabbitts (Co-PI's) have received a NIH Grant ! | Total Award: $4,735,513
Funding Agency: NIH HEAL Pain Management Effectiveness Research U Grant
Project Period: 9/30/2019—8/31/2024
Project Title: “Effectiveness of an mHealth Psychosocial Intervention to Prevent Transition from Acute to Chronic Postsurgical Pain in Adolescents”
Project Description: This HEAL Comparative Effectiveness Trial will address the gap in non-pharmacological treatments in perioperative care of adolescents undergoing major musculoskeletal surgery. We will test our psychosocial intervention targeting psychosocial risk factors and teaching pain self-management strategies in 500 adolescents at 15 pediatric spine centers across the nation. postsurgical pain in youth undergoing major musculoskeletal surgery.

Congratulations, Drs. Backonja, Curatolo & Stacey !

Misha Backonja, MD, Michele Curatolo, MD, & Brett Stacey, MD — Drs. Backonja, Curatolo and Stacey (Co-PI's) have received an NIH Grant ! | Total Award: $933,000
Funding Agency: NIH HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Grant
Project Period: 9/1/2019—03/31/2024 | Project Title: “EPPIC-Net Hub at University of Washington”
Project Description: The UW hub as specialized clinical center will conduct clinical trials, phenotyping and biomarker studies within the EPPIC-Net (Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network). The hub will have access to geographically and demographically diverse patient populations, including underrepresented and underserved patients, which embrace five States, military and pediatric populations, affected by a broad range of disorders for which pain is a clinically significant component.

Congratulations, Dr. Sharma !

Deepak Sharma, MBBS, MD, DM — Professor & Chief (Div Neuroanesth & Periop Neurosci), HMC—UW Medicine — Dr. Sharma received an AHRQ award ! | Project Period: August 2019—July 2023
Project Title: “Improving Patient Safety in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Using Transcranial Doppler (TCD) Simulation for Bedside Diagnosis of Cerebral Vasospasm”
Project Description: “This award is to advance patient safety through simulation research. The goal of this research is to improve the safety of patients who suffer aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage by improving their access to transcranial Doppler (TCD) monitoring for cerebral vasospasm. We will complete the development of a simulator for training and skill assessment in performing TCD examination for cerebral vasospasm. We aim to verify the accuracy, clinical realism and clinical validity of the simulator.”

Congratulations, Drs. Sedensky and Johnson!

Margaret Sedensky, MD and Simon Johnson, PhD — Drs. Sedensky and Johnson (Co-PI's) have received a NIH Grant ! Total Award: $1,488,000
Funding Agency: National Institute of Health | Project Period: 7/1/2019—6/30/2023
Project Title: “The Role of Ketone Metabolism in Sequelae Resulting from Volatile Anesthetic Exposure”

Congratulations, Dr. Khandelwal !

Nita Khandelwal, MD — Assistant Professor — Dr. Khandelwal received a K23 award !
Project Period: Four Years
Project Title: “Improving Patient – and Family-centered Outcomes and Value of Care – for Patients with Chronic Illness Who Develop Acute Respiratory Failure”
Project Description: “Patients with acute respiratory failure and underlying chronic illness are at high risk for poor patient and family-centered outcomes, and for receiving potily are likely to benefit from supportive and palliative interventions. This project will lead to a better understanentially burdensome and costly care that may be discordant with their values and goals. These patients and their famding of which patients may benefit most from such interventions and which interventions would be most helpful. Knowledge gained from this study will directly inform and result in the design of interventions to improve patient and family outcomes and the delivery of value-driven care to this complex population.”

Congratulations, Dr. Vavilala !

Monica S. Vavilala, MD — Professor — Dr. Vavilala received a CDC award !
Project Period: Five Years
Congratulations to Dr. Vavilala and colleagues at the University of Washington’s Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center (HIPRC) who just received this grant. This is notable not only because the HIPRC is just one of only nine injury prevention centers in the country – but also because it’s the only one led by an anesthesiologist. In fact, Monica is the only anesthesiologist to have ever led a federal injury control center. The grant will help fund four research projects on prescription opioids, suicide, falls among older adults, and pediatric concussions.

Congratulations to HIPRC and Drs. Vavilala, Rivara, and Rowhani-Rahbar!
UW Medicine’s HIPRC was recently awarded $1,000,000 from the State of Washington for the new Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program. The program seeks to answer urgent questions around firearm risks, injuries, policies and programs in Washington State. Dr. Fred Rivara is the program director, and Dr. Ali Rowhani-Bahbar will be co-director.
HIPRC has a three decades-long history of studying firearm injuries. Its researchers have conducting pivotal studies on access to firearms in the home, on safe firearm storage practices and promotion, and on assessing lethal means availability for patients evaluated in emergency departments. Current projects include research to measure the effectiveness of extreme risk protection orders, evaluate interventions to reduce firearm injury recidivism, characterize of firearm suicides; and study the effectiveness of permit to purchase laws and domestic violence protection orders requiring firearm relinquishment. Visit the program website at: www.hiprc.org/firearm

Congratulations, Dr. Long and Vavilala !

Dustin Long, MD and Monica S. Vavilala, MD — The University of Washington Population Health Initiative announced the award of approximately $350,000 in COVID-19 rapid response grant to 21 different faculty-led teams.
These teams are composed of individuals representing 10 different schools and colleges. Funding was partially matched by additional school, college and departmental funds, bringing the total value of these awards to roughly $820,000. The Population Health Initiative COVID-19 rapid response research grants are intended to rapidly accelerate, or jumpstart, novel research designed to better understand or mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on multiple facets of life.
In collaboration with other UW faculty, APM faculty Drs. Long and Vavilala received an award for their research: “Using Machine Learning on the UW Medicine Electronic Health Record to Optimize COVID-19 Response.”

“Our cross-disciplinary team will address the challenge of allocating limited resources such as diagnostic tests, personal protective equipment, and ICU beds during the COVID-19 pandemic. UW co-investigators from intensive and perioperative care, biomedical informatics, epidemiology, data science, and Microsoft Research scientists will jointly explore a research dataset drawn from UW Medicine’s electronic health records of persons receiving COVID-19 diagnostic tests and hospital care among those testing positive.” More details on their project (and co-investigators), and other award recipients can be found in the UW Population Health site.

Congratulations, Drs. Sunshine and Gollakota!

Jake Sunshine, MD, MS and Shyam Gollakota, PhD — Drs. Sunshine and Gollakota (Co-PI's) received a NSF award ! | Project period: Four Years
Project Title: “Opioid Overdose Detection and Reversal Using Sensors and Mobile Devices”
Description: Development and testing of a closed-loop system that detects opioid overdose and auto-injects naloxone.

R&D grants related to respiratory monitoring technology:
(1) Principal Investigator: Jacob Sunshine, MD, MS | NIH Award: $1,750,000
Project Period: 2.5 Years | Project Title: “Transforming Smartphones into Active Sonar Systems to Detect Opioid Overdose (Fast-track SBIR, HEAL Initiative)”
(2) Principal Investigator: Jacob Sunshine, MD, MS | Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) Grant: $750,000
Project Period: One Year | Project Title: “Detection of Incipient Respiratory Infections using Smart Speakers"

Congratulations, Drs. Ross, Joffe and Latham!

Faith Ross MD, Denise Joffe MD, Gregory Latham MD and colleagues have published a manuscript on their research supported with a $25,000 grant from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database. This publication is the culmination of their research started two years ago with the grant award.
Title: Associations between anthropometric indices and outcomes of congenital heart operations in infants and young children: An analysis of data from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database.
Journal Details: Am Heart J. 2020 Mar 19; 224: 85‐97. doi:10.1016/j.ahj.2020. 03.012. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 32353587.

Congratulations, Drs. Raftery, Sedensky and
Morgan !

Dan Raftery, Margaret Sedensky MD, Philip Morgan MD and colleagues have published in the June Molecular Genetics and Metabolism and made the cover.
Title: Regional metabolic signatures in the Ndufs4(KO) mouse brain implicate defective Sglutamate/alpha-ketoglutarate metabolism in mitochondrial disease.
Journal Details: Johnson SC, Kayser EB, Bornstein R, Stokes J, Bitto A, Park KY, Pan A, Sun G, Raftery D, Kaeberlein M, Sedensky M, Morgan P. Mol Genet Metab. Jun 2020;130(2):118-132.

Congratulations, Dr. Sunshine !

Jake Sunshine, MD, MS — Drs. Jacob Sunshine and Shyam Gollakota publication in New York Times op ed (link) — April 5, 2020
Title: "Smart Monitoring in a Pandemic"
Details: (1) Considers ways big tech can help monitor disease prevalence without compromising privacy; (2) Passive data sensing while masking user information may unlock this potential.

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