Announcement and Call for Abstracts

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and its journal, Anesthesiology, announce the 22nd annual Journal Symposium, to be held at the ASA Annual Meeting on October 14, 2013, in San Francisco, California. The 2013 Journal Symposium will highlight up-and-coming and noteworthy concepts in anesthesia research and clinical practice.

Cardiac arrest is a rare, nevertheless dramatic, event that may occur in the operative setting. In such an emergency situation, patient outcome may significantly depend on quality of care provided immediately in the operating room (OR) as well as in the first hours after recovery of cardiac activity. Recent advances in the pathophysiology, consequences on brain function, clinical management, and resuscitation techniques of patients with cardiac arrest open an exciting era in which significant changes in outcome might be expected.

This symposium will explore mechanisms and clinical managements for treating a patient presenting with in-hospital cardiac arrest (particularly in the OR) that impact on patient outcome and should change our clinical practice.

Three invited speakers will lead the session: Ala Nozari, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, will focus on the pathophysiology of brain injury during and after cardiac arrest and possibilities for brain preservation; Lee Fleisher, M.D., F.A.C.C., Robert D. Dripps Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will provide cornerstone recommendations for an optimized resuscitation during and after cardiac arrest that makes the difference on outcome; and Bruno Riou, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine and Surgery (Chairman) and Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University Pierre and Marie Curie-Paris 6 and Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France, will discuss the novel therapeutic approaches of extracorporeal life support and its perspectives for the future in the management strategy of cardiac arrest and their link with beating heart organ donation.

Investigators from around the world with an interest in this subject are invited to submit their work to the ASA for the annual meeting. Abstracts from both basic and clinical sciences dedicated to any pathophysiological aspect of cardiac arrest or quality of resuscitation are encouraged. A special session on the topic will also be organized in the Critical Care abstract sessions. Abstracts should be submitted via the usual online process (which can be accessed through the Web sites www.asahq.org and www.anesthesiology.org). Interested individuals should make sure to check the “Journal Symposium” box on the abstract submission form to be considered for inclusion in this special session. The deadline for abstract submission is March 31, 2013. Abstract selections will be made by the symposium organizers in conjunction with members of the Anesthesiology Editorial Board.

The authors of abstracts selected for the symposium will be offered an opportunity to submit their work to Anesthesiology for inclusion in an issue to be published in the spring of 2014.

The annual American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Award for Excellence in Research recognizes an individual for outstanding achievement in research that has or is likely to have an important impact on the practice of anesthesiology.

The individual’s work must represent a body of original, mature, and sustained contribution to the advancement of the science of anesthesiology. The nominee need not be a physician, an anesthesiologist, or a member of the ASA, but must be presently engaged in research related to anesthesiology, academically accomplished with peer-reviewed publications and funded research, and nominated in response to a call for nominations. The completed application must include the nominee’s current curriculum vitae, a letter of nomination, and a seconding letter from two individuals with an understanding of the research contributions of the individual.

The 2012 Award for Excellence in Research was presented to Ralph Lydic, Ph.D., at the ASA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Monday, October 15, 2012. Dr. Lydic is a Professor at University of Michigan, Department of Anesthesiology, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The deadline for nominations for the 2013 Excellence in Research Award is March 31, 2013. Please submit nominations or any questions regarding this award to George H. Kendall, Managing Editor, Anesthesiology, Department of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157; e-mail: managing-editor@anesthesiology.org.

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Presidential Scholar Award recognizes colleagues who dedicate their formative careers to research.

The deadline for nominations for the 2013 Presidential Scholar Award is March 31, 2013. Anesthesiologists who are within 10 years of their first appointment to a department of anesthesiology, who are Board-certified in their country of practice, who are ASA members, and who are clinically active in anesthesia, intensive care, or pain medicine are eligible for the award. Nominees must be academically accomplished with peer-reviewed publications and funded research. Candidates should be nominated by their department chair or by the Committee on Research after review of the current year’s grant applicants of the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research. The nominee’s department chair should submit a letter of support and the nominee’s current curriculum vitae as well as one seconding letter from a senior faculty member. Only one nominee per department will be accepted.

The recipient of the 2012 Presidential Scholar Award was Peter Nagele, M.D., M.Sc., Assistant Professor, Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, St. Louis, Missouri, who received the award at the ASA Annual Meeting in Washington D.C., on Monday, October 15, 2012.

Please submit nominations or any questions regarding this award to George H. Kendall, Managing Editor, Anesthesiology, Department of Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157; e-mail: managing-editor@anesthesiology.org.