The Department recently hosted the annual Professors Martin Helrich and M. Jane Matjasko Lecture in Anesthsiology, featuring Laura E. Niklason, MD, PhD and titled "Progress and Roadblocks in Cellular Therapeutics". Click here for a video recording and photos of the event.

Congratulations to recently promoted faculty members: Wei Chao, MD, PhD, FAHA: Awarding of Tenure; Brian Polster, PhD: Awarding of Tenure; Marta Lipinski, PhD: Promotion to Associate Professor; Michael Mazzeffi, MD, MPH: Promotion to Associate Professor; Boris Sabirzhanov, PhD: Promotion to Assistant Professor.

The Maryland Medicine Comprehensive Insurance Program (MMCIP) recently awarded their inaugural Patient Safety Award to the Department of Anesthesiology. The award was presented by DePriest Whye, Chief Executive Office of MMCIP. 

‌Congratulations to Lin Zou, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, who was recently awarded a prestigious Faculty Research Award from the Shock Society. The award is given in support of a faculty member at his/her early career stage to develop research in the areas related to trauma, shock, and sepsis, and who has the intent to become an outstanding independent investigator.

‌‌Kristy Ward, MS, CRNA, was recently awarded the Excellence ‌in Advanced Practice Nursing at the University of Maryland Medical Center's 2017 Nursing Excellence Awards. Kristy has been a member of the CRNA team for more than five years and plays an instrumental role in managing the CRNA schedule for the General OR, Trauma OR, University of Maryland Rehabilitation and Orthopaedic Institute, and UMMC Midtown campus.

Congratulations to Cheryl Conaway, Medical Practice Representative at the Pain Management Center at UMROI, and Judith Hallinger, Certified Coder in the Anesthesiology Professional Billing Office. Both were honored at the annual Faculty Physicians, Inc. Service Awards luncheon in May 2017. Cheryl was recognized for her 10 years of service, and Judith was recognized for her 25 years of service.

Ron Samet, MD, Assistant Professor and Fellowship Director, Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain, was featured in the May 2017 Associate Press (AP) article, "Overcoming Opioids: When Pills are a Hospital’s Last Resort." The story is the third in the AP series about the opioid epidemic, and it highlights the unique ways in which hospitals are managing pain in addicts, even in trauma situations.

Congratulations to Assistant Professors Mary Hyder, MD, Jeremy Kaplowitz, MD, and Maria Karla Villacin, MD, as well as nurse anesthetists Theresa Young, CRNA, and Michelle Duell, DNP, who were honored at this year’s 28th Annual R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Gala at the Baltimore Convention Center, held on Saturday, April 22, 2017.  

Michael Shteyman, MD, Instructor, is featured in Deb's Amlen's New York Times article, "Uncommon Period," in which the infrequent triple overtime in basketball is highlighted as the theme for Dr. Shteyman's New York Times crossword puzzle on Thursday, April 13, 2017. His first New York Times crossword puzzle was published in 2001, when he was just 16 years, 9 months old, and which ranks him as the 16th youngest crossword puzzle constructor to debut with the New York Times.

Congratulations to Kenneth Robinson, MD, Assistant Professor at Midtown, on his selection to the 2017 40 Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health by the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF). Honorees are recognized for their efforts to diversify the healthcare marketplace and serve as positive role models for the next generation of leaders in minority health.

Colin Mackenzie, MB, ChB, Professor Emeritus, is featured in the March 2017 edition of JAMA Surgery in the article, "Performance of Vascular Exposure and Fasciotomy Among Surgical Residents Before and After Training Compared With Experts." In the same edition, Dr. Mackenzie provides invited commentary on training proficiency: "Surgical Training to Proficiency: Learning From Errors."

The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research has released their 2016 rankings of NIH funding to Medical Schools throughout the country. The Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore is now ranked 11th, improving from our 17th place ranking in 2015. Congratulations to all investigators, whose hard work, dedication, innovation, and commitment to discovery continue to expand the research enterprise for the Department.

Konstantin Birukov, MD, PhD, Professor, joins the Department of Anesthesiology as the Director of the University of Maryland Lung Biology Research Program and will concurrently serve as the Associate Chair for Basic Science Research in the Department of Anesthesiology. An author on over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, Dr. Birukov also holds four patents and is Principal Investigator on three active NIH-funded grants.

Both Michael Mazzeffi, MD, Assistant Professor, and Kenichi Tanaka, MD, Professor, of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology are featured in two separate Letters to the Editor in the February 2017 issue of Anesthesia and Analgesia. Dr. Mazzeffi's letter, "If the Goal is Balance, Why Not Fresh Frozen Plasma?" and Dr. Tanaka's letter, "Clinical and Practical Aspects of Restoring Thrombin Generation in Acute Coagulopathic Bleeding," are currently available online.

Kenichi Tanaka, MD, Professor in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology, and Brittney Williams, MD, Assistant Professor, are featured as co-authors in the January 2017 issue of Transfusion Medicine Reviews, "Practical Use of Thromboelastometry in the Management of Perioperative Coagulopathy and Bleeding."

Kenichi Tanaka, MD, Professor in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology, is co-author on an editorial in the December 2016 issue of Anesthesia and Analgesia, "SEER Sonorheometry: Listening to What the Clot Has to Say."  Dr. Tanaka is also featured in the recent issue of British Journal of Anaesthesia as co-author on the article, “Fibrinogen – Is It a Universal Haemostatic Agent?”