2020 Mentored Research Training Grant Poster Videos

Timothy Gaulton, MD, MSc

Presenter Bio: Dr. Tim Gaulton, MD, MSc is an assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. His academic focus is on perioperative outcomes research with his work to date focusing on identifying high risk groups and their functional and cognitive outcomes after surgery and acute illness. Within the APSF/FAER MRTG, he will be examining the epidemiology of driving risk and behavior after common surgery in order to identify novel perioperative risks and to understand patient recovery as it relates to a complex and commonplace activity.

Benedict Alter, MD, PhD

Presenter Bio: Dr. Ben Alter, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and the Director for Translational Pain Research in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh. After studying medicine and neuroscience at Washington University, Dr. Alter completed training in anesthesiology at UCSF and pain medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Alter’s research explores how the brain modulates pain and how endogenous pain dampening systems can be systematically leveraged for novel pain therapies.

Alexander F. Arriaga, MD, MCH, ScD

Presenter Bio: Alex Arriaga is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School and Anesthesiologist for the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He completed his undergraduate studies from Columbia University and graduated from medical school with Honors in Research from Cornell University. He completed two years of categorical general surgery residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He has Master of Public Health and Doctor of Science degrees from Harvard University. He completed his clinical residency in anesthesiology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital with Distinction in Research. Dr. Arriaga has over forty co-authored publications, including two book chapters as senior author.

Daniel C. Cook, MD

Presenter Bio: Dr. Cook is an Instructor of Anesthesiology and Van Poznak Anesthesiology Research Scholar at Weill Cornell Medicine. He completed his undergraduate degree in Chemical Physics at Tufts University and attended medical school at Weill Cornell Medicine. As a medical student, Dr. Cook studied the molecular mechanisms of inhaled anesthesia in the laboratory of Hugh Hemmings, Jr. MD, PhD as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellow. He completed residency in anesthesiology and fellowship in thoracic anesthesia at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medicine. Currently, Dr. Cook is a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of Timothy Ryan, PhD, in the Department of Biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine. The focus of his research is to better understand the molecular mechanisms and toxicities of commonly used anesthetics in the central nervous system to generate insights that may make anesthesia safer.

Vesela P. Kovacheva, MD, PhD

Presenter Bio: Vesela Kovacheva MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist and an attending anesthesiologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at the Harvard Medical School with strong passion for clinical innovation and translational research. Dr. Kovacheva has a vision for transforming the practice of obstetric anesthesiology by using the latest advancements in the areas of genetics and machine learning. Her work is focused on investigating the genetic factors associated with major causes of maternal morbidity and mortality, like postpartum hemorrhage. She is interested in creating artificial intelligence (AI)-powered algorithms for risk stratification and personalized management of diverse pregnancy outcomes. Dr. Kovacheva’s original research has been published in Anesthesiology, Journal of Biological Chemistry and FASEB Journal. Her Research is funded by the Foundation of Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER), Brigham Research Institute (BRI) and Partners Innovation.

Li Li, MD, PhD

Presenter Bio: Li Li, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington. He practices as a pediatric anesthesiologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital. His research interest is in using hypnotic and anesthetic agents to better understand brain neurophysiology, and in turn, the neurologic disorders, such as perioperative delirium, associated with their use. He currently works in Prof. Michael Bruchas’ lab to dissect the role of locus coeruleus neural circuitry in a mouse model of anesthetic emergence using cutting-edge tools in systems neuroscience to monitor and manipulate specific neurons in the brain.

Adam M. Gerber, MD, PhD

Presenter Bio: Dr. Adam Gerber is a physician scientist and currently an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He graduated from Binghamton University cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in biology from Binghamton University. He subsequently remained there for two additional years as a research assistant teaching and performing research in invertebrate neurobiology. He then matriculated at Upstate Medical University where he completed his MD/PhD and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. In 2012 he began his residency training in anesthesiology at Columbia and was selected as a Virginia Apgar Scholar. At the completion of residency, he accepted a spot as an NIH T32 fellow and joined Dr. Jeanine D’Armiento’s lab where he began investigating mechanisms of lung injury and repair. He currently splits his time between scientific research in the D’Armiento laboratory, providing clinical care and teaching residents.

Mieke A. Soens, MD

Presenter Bio: Dr. Mieke A. Soens, MD, is the Director of the Pain in Pregnancy Clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an Instructor at Harvard Medical School. After graduating from Ghent University Medical School in Belgium, Dr. Soens completed residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, followed by fellowships in Obstetric Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. Dr. Soens’ clinical experience and interest in basic research led to studies that focus on unraveling the complex mechanisms driving persistent post-surgical pain. More specifically, she explores whether failed inflammation resolution triggers the transition from acute to persistent post-surgical pain.

 

Lisa Q. Rong, MD

Presenter Bio: In her general anesthesiology training, Dr. Rong obtained broad foundational training in anesthetic management of patients with cardiovascular disease and anesthesiology. During fellowship in Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology, she became interested in the use of advanced echocardiography for risk stratification and intraoperative decision-making in structural heart disease. Currently, Dr. Rong is a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist at Weill Cornell with an academic focus on using novel intraoperative transesophageal echo methods to understand mechanisms of myocardial dysfunction, and to inform anesthetic management of patients undergoing cardiac surgery.