PeRLS Certification Content Contributors and Reviewers

Content Contributors

Ashish Agrawal, MD is Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care at the University of California, San Francisco. He has completed a critical care fellowship and works in the trauma and neurosurgical ICU at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG), where he is the Anesthesia Critical Care Director. In addition to clinical work, Ashish has an interest in postgraduate education, especially simulation for multidisciplinary trainees, and is the rotation director for ICU fellows at ZSFG.

Amber N. Campbell, MD, MS is an Assistant Professor in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at UT Houston McGovern School of Medicine. Her clinical duties include the Shock Trauma Intensive Care Unit in the Red Duke Trauma Center, as well as the operating room at Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center. She is a current Assistant Program Director in the residency program, with focus on the Intern class.

Krassimir Denchev, MD, FASA is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He finished residency at WSU and a Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Michigan. He co-direct the Surgical Critical Care Unit and Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at Trinity Health Oakland in Michigan. He is champion Quality for the Department of Anesthesiology and for the Critical Care Medicine at Trinity Health Oakland, Michigan. He is actively involved with Ultrasound education in Critical Care.

Robert F. Groff, MD is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology in the Division of Critical Care Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2010. He completed his residency in Anesthesiology and fellowship in Critical Care Medicine at Stanford University in 2015. He currently serves as the medical director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery ICU and site director for Critical Care Medicine at Emory University Hospital Midtown. When he is not caring for patients in the ORs and ICUs, he enjoys skiing, scuba diving and spending time with his family.

Megan Hicks, MD is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. She attended the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and subsequently completed her residency training in Anesthesiology at the University of North Carolina Hospitals. She then completed fellowship training in Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Vanderbilt Medical Center before joining the faculty at Wake Forest. She has a special interest in medical education and serves as the Associate Fellowship Director of the Critical Care fellowship.

Craig S. Jabaley, MD, FCCM is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at the Emory University School of Medicine and Associate Director of the Emory Critical Care Center. He serves as the Critical Care Medicine Division Chief within the Department of Anesthesiology. His primary clinical focus is adult critical care medicine with additional time devoted to adult multispecialty anesthesiology. As Medical Director of the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit at Emory University Hospital, a regional referral center for severe respiratory failure, ECMO, and mechanical circulatory support, he oversees a multidisciplinary team of critical care professionals. His research interests include mixed methods approaches to understanding the dissemination and uptake of healthcare information, implementation science, critical care health services research, and exploratory biomedical applications of time series analysis.

Catherine M. Kuza, MD, FASA, FCCM is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology in the Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Critical Care at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (KSOM USC), Los Angeles, CA, USA. She completed her anesthesiology residency training at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine in Worcester, MA, USA and went on to complete a critical care fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, USA. She has been faculty at KSOM USC since 2016, where she serves as the Director of Trauma Researcher and Associate Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. She is an active member of numerous professional societies including the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). She serves as the Chair for both the American Board of Anesthesiology Critical Care MOCA Minute and the SCCM adult item writing committee. She enjoys teaching and has served as a mentor in research, anesthesiology, and critical care to numerous medical students, residents, and fellows. She has published a number of journal articles and book chapters related to anesthesiology, trauma, burns, and critical care.

Steven Minear MD, MBA, FASA received his medical degree from Stanford University in 2011. He completed a general surgery internship from UCSF, and he completed an anesthesia residency at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Afterward, he completed his critical care medicine fellowship from Columbia University at NY Presbyterian Hospital. Following his training, he joined Cleveland Clinic Florida in 2017 and is an associate staff anesthesiologist. Moreover, he serves as the Director of Research for the Anesthesia Institute and has been active in the study of perioperative hemodynamics and outcomes. He is on the board of directors for the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists, and he is active at the committee level for both this organization and the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Akhil Patel, MD is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Akhil graduated from Drexel University College of Medicine. He completed his residency in Anesthesiology at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, NJ and followed that with his fellowship in Critical Care Anesthesia at Penn State University Hospital in Hershey, PA. At George Washington, he is currently the Assistant Program Director of the Critical Care Anesthesia Fellowship, Assistant Director of the Pre-Admission Testing Clinic, and a member of the Liver Transplant Program. He divides his clinical time between the operating room and multidisciplinary ICU.

Ronald Pearl, MD, PhD is the Dr. Richard K. and Erika N. Richards Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. He practices cardiovascular anesthesiology and critical care medicine. He was chair of the Stanford anesthesiology department from 1999-2021 and has served as president of the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists, the Society of Academic Associations of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, the Association of University Anesthesiologists, and the California Society of Anesthesiologists. His fields of research include pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failure, sepsis, blood transfusion, and innovations in education.

Shahla Siddiqui, MD, MS, DABA, FCCM is a board-certified Anesthesiologist and Intensivist with 20 years of clinical experience in academic medicine. She did her residency at the University of Maryland and a Critical Care Medicine fellowship at Columbia University, NY in 2002. She has a special interest in Medical ethics with a Masters from the National University of Singapore. She has had global experience practicing in University affiliated hospitals in Asia before working at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She has a research interest in humanities, burnout, and medical ethics as well as a passion for medical education. She has published several peer-reviewed articles and chapters as well as have held multiple peer-reviewed grants. She is an ardent supporter of women's academic and professional movements and is an active member of the American Society of Anesthesia's Critical Care Medicine and Ethics Committees, SOCCA, SCCM, as well as the ASA Covid 19 Council.

Content Reviewers

Jason Anderson, CRNA, is the Director of Anesthesia for the UCM Perioperative and Procedural Services Division and the Chief CRNA for the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care at the University of Chicago. Jason holds a Master's degree in Nurse Anesthesia from Texas Wesleyan University. He has spent the entirety of his 16-year anesthesia career practicing clinically in level 1 trauma-certified academic medical centers. Jason takes the most pride in his wonderful family. Melissa, his wife of 22 years and his two sons Courtland (21) and Cain (19).

P. Allan Klock Jr., MD is a board-certified anesthesiologist. He is professor and chairman at the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care and the Anesthesia Medical Director of the Operating Rooms at the University of Chicago. At the University of Chicago, Dr. Klock has been section chief for urologic anesthesia and medical director of the post-anesthesia care unit and medical director of his department’s ambulatory clinics.