2020 Severinghaus Lecture on Translational Science: Reply

I thank Dr. Ortega¹  for clarifying the location of the Ether Monument in the Boston Public Garden. In fact, no living person is better suited to point out my oversight.²  In 2006, Dr. Ortega published a book entitled Written in Granite: An Illustrated History of the Ether Monument.³  He has also contributed to the restoration of the Ether Monument. In 2004, when the City of Boston undertook a complete restoration of the monument, an endowment fund was created to maintain the structure.⁴  The proceeds from Dr. Ortega’s book have been directed to the endowment fund, helping to support the preservation of the statue.⁵ 

In the 2020 John W. Severinghaus Lecture on Translational Science, I described the Ether Monument as a symbolic reminder of “relentless innovation.”²  Only through such innovation will we ensure that all patients gain access to anesthesia care that improves their long-term outcomes. The Ether Monument, with its location now correctly identified, is well worth a visit the next time you are in Boston.

This work was supported by a Foundation Grant (FDN-154312) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) to Dr. Orser.

Dr. Orser serves on the Board of Trustees of the International Anesthesia Research Society (San Francisco, California) and is a codirector of the Perioperative Brain Health Center (Toronto, Ontario, Canada; http://www.perioperativebrainhealth.com). She is a named inventor on a Canadian patent (2,852,978) and two U.S. patents (9,517,265 and 10,981,954). Dr. Orser collaborates on clinical studies that are supported by in-kind software donations from Cogstate Ltd. (New Haven, Connecticut).