Congratulations to FAER’s Spring 2024 Grant Recipients!

Wednesday, May 22

The Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) is proud to announce the physician-investigators awarded research grants in spring 2024. Totaling $1.9 million in funding, awards include five Mentored Research Training Grants, two Research in Education Grants, one Research Fellowship Grant, one APSF-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant co-sponsored by the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF), and the second-ever funded Transition to Independence Grant.

“It was an absolute pleasure speaking to the talented scientists awarded FAER funding this cycle! Their excitement was palpable, and I reflect this excitement for the breadth of topics their research will address. I’m proud of FAER’s role in supporting these physician-investigators on their research journey and look forward to continuing to celebrate their achievements as we move into the future.”
- Dolores B. Njoku, MD, FAER Board Chair

“As a past FAER grantee, I know firsthand how impactful early-career funding like that awarded to this cycle’s grantees can be. Just as FAER funding will help these exceptional researchers succeed in the future, so too will their work contribute to the future of anesthesiology. I hope you will join us in not only congratulating Drs. Cassavaugh, Duffy, Hector-Greene, Kazior, Neves, Park, Scarpa, Su, White, and Zhang on being awarded FAER funding this cycle, but also thanking them for their part in growing science in our specialty.” 
- Max B. Kelz, MD, PhD, FAER President and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO)

Details on FAER's spring 2024 grant recipients, including names, institutions, mentors, and project titles can be found below. Please join us in congratulating and celebrating these future leaders of anesthesiology and research.

Mentored Research Training Grants (MRTG) help physician-investigators 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 comprise $250,000 in funding over two years.

Jessica Cassavaugh, MD; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston, Massachusetts)
Primary Mentor: Simon C. Robson, MB, ChB, FRCP, FAASLD, PhD
Secondary Mentor: Maria Serena Longhi, MD, PhD
Project Title: Estrogen, Inflammation and Metabolic Health: Estrogen Dependent Signaling is Protective in Metabolic Disease

Melissa Hector-Greene, MD, PhD; Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis, Missouri) 
Primary Mentor: Kory Lavine, MD, PhD
Secondary Mentor: Michael J. Greenberg, PhD
Project Title: Pathogenic Mechanisms of R190W Mutation in LMNA-Associated Cardiomyopathy

John Park, MD, PhD; University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California)
Primary Mentor: Soban Umar, MD, PhD
Secondary Mentor: Mansoureh Eghbali, PhD
Project Title: Targeting LYSYL-OXIDASE-LIKE-2 in Right Ventricular Remodeling Secondary to Pulmonary Hypertension

Joseph Scarpa, MD, PhD; Weill Cornell Medicine (New York, New York)
Primary Mentor: Olivier Elemento, PhD
Secondary Mentor: Peter Goldstein, MD
Tertiary Mentor: Joshua Mincer, MD, PhD
Additional Collaborators: Luis Diaz Jr., MD; Peter Kuhn, PhD
Project Title: The Response of Circulating Tumor Cells to Surgical Resection and Intraoperative Ketamine in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Po-Yi Paul Su, MD; University of California, San Francisco (San Francisco, California)
Primary Mentor: Zhonghui Guan, MD
Secondary Mentor: Judith Hellman, MD
Project Title: Activating Transcription Factor 3: The Link Between Nerve Regeneration and Persistence of Post-Surgical Pain?

Research in Education Grants (REG) advance the careers and knowledge of anesthesiologists interested in improving the concepts, methods, and techniques of education in anesthesiology. These grants are eligible to anesthesiology faculty of any rank and comprise $100,000 in funding over two years.

Michael Kazior, MD; Richmond Institute for Veterans Research (Richmond, Virginia)
Primary Mentor: Susan Martinelli, MD, FASA
Additional Collaborator: Fei Chen, PhD, MEd, MStat
Project Title: Development and Effect of an Electronic Learning Module on Defibrillator Competence in Anesthesia Providers

Sara Neves, MD; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston, Massachusetts)
Primary Mentor: Robina Matyal, MD
Secondary Mentor: Feroze-Ud-Din Mahmood, MD
Project Title: Developing Automaticity in Invasive Procedures: Novel Application of an Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) Simulator

Research Fellowship Grants (RFG) provide anesthesiology residents and fellows with the opportunity to obtain significant training in research techniques and scientific methods. These grants are eligible to anesthesiology trainees after CA-1 year and comprise $75,000 in funding over one year.

Xiao Lu Zhang, PhD, DO; University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, Alabama)
Primary Mentor: Aftab Ahmad, PhD
Project Title: Pathogenic Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Aspiration-Induced Acute Lung Injury

Transition to Independence Grants (TIG) aim to support the transition of investigators from mentored training-focused support to independent (non-mentored) research support. These grants are eligible to primary investigators (not co-investigators) who have completed work on a FAER MRTG within the past two years and are in the process of revising and resubmitting an application for new independent research funding (R01/21, VA Merit, AHRQ or equivalent). The TIG comprises $75,000 in funding over one year.

E. Railey White, MD, PhD; University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Project Title: Novel Molecules as a Window to Anesthetic Mechanisms

APSF-FAER Mentored Research Training Grants (MRTG) are co-sponsored by the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) and fund patient safety research directly relevant to the perioperative care of patients, as well as chronic pain and critical care medicine. Patient safety is defined as the avoidance, prevention and improvement of adverse outcomes or injuries stemming from health care processes. These grants are eligible to faculty members who have completed their core anesthesiology residency training within the past 10 years and comprise $300,000 in funding over two years.

Caoimhe Duffy, MD, MSc; University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Primary Mentor: Mark Neuman, MD, MSc
Secondary Mentor: Lewis Jay Kaplan, MD
Tertiary Mentor: Meghan Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP
Additional Collaborators: Ellen O'Sullivan, MD, FCAI; Justin B. Ziemba, MD, MSEd; Rui Feng, PhD
Project Title: Resilience Training to Prevent Intubation Harm: The One Safe Act-Airway Study

Along with celebrating the physician-investigators above, FAER would like to thank the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ (ASA) Committee on Research for its role in reviewing and scoring FAER grant applications. The committee members possess a wide array of scientific and research expertise, ensuring a thorough and rigorous grant review process.

FAER is also pleased to share information on the funding opportunities available as part of its upcoming Fall 2024 Grant Cycle. Available grants for the Fall 2024 Cycle include the Mentored Research Training Grant, Research in Education Grant, and Research Fellowship Grant. Also available is the Transition to Independence Grant. See below for more information and links, or visit FAER.org/Grants.

Applications Open: June 1 – August 15, 2024

Available Grants:

• Mentored Research Training Grant ($250,000 over two years)
• Research in Education Grant ($100,000 over two years)
• Research Fellowship Grant ($75,000 over one year)
• Transition to Independence Grant ($75,000 over one year)