Did you know the FDA labeling change listing a reduction in the concentration of lidocaine used for spinal anesthesia – which has likely prevented harm to patients – came from research that began with a FAER grant?
Kenneth Drasner, M.D., Professor Emeritus, University of California, San Francisco, was training in a lab devoted to pain mechanisms when he became surprised about the researchers’ lack of knowledge regarding the impact of the anesthetics they were administering to animals during their investigations. This concern inspired him to set out to understand the effects of volatile anesthetics on pain processing, and he received a FAER Research Starter Grant in 1988 to do just that.
Since the late 1980s, Dr. Drasner’s research has followed what he calls a “circuitous” path, supported by grants from several sources, including the National Institutes of Health, and resulting in transformative changes to clinical practice. But the story begins...
