Statements of Impact from Research Award Winners
Anne Cherry, MD, FASE
Kaplan Leadership Development Award
Most immediately, the Kaplan Leadership Development Award fostered development of the skill set I needed to continue evolving our department’s research program for clinical fellow trainees. Moreover, the timing of the award relative to my career stage at the time was ideal: in the years that have followed, that leadership development has paid dividends in a variety of other professional domains both locally and nationally, including (perhaps most importantly) opportunities to give back via service to the SCA via several roles. I’m extremely grateful to the SCA for their support of my Kaplan Leadership Development Award, which solidified my path in promoting research and other professional development.
Amanda Rhee, MD, MS
Kaplan Leadership Development Award
The Kaplan Leadership Award and the educational leadership opportunity it created for me provided key learning and networking opportunities that I carry with me today. We created a program which reduced never events in the operating room and I now hold a leadership position working as the Executive Director of Perioperative and Procedural Quality for the System Chief Medical Officer. I couldn’t be more grateful for the support of the SCA and the Dr. Joel Kaplan’s vision to support growing leaders.
J. Danny Muehlschlegel, MD, MMSc, MBA
Kaplan Leadership Award Recipient
The support from the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) at the onset of my career was pivotal, demonstrating that I could secure competitive peer-reviewed funding, a foundation that enabled me to apply for additional grants and eventually establish an NIH-funded laboratory. Subsequently, receiving the Kaplan Leadership Award facilitated further education through an MBA, equipping me with the essential skills and tools to lead a department successfully.
2025 Kaplan Reception
Left to right – Kathy Glas, Amanda Rhee, Kelly Ural, Gina Linganna
Nadia Hensley
Left to Right – Nadia Hensley, Mary Beth Brady, Gina Linganna, Kelly Ural, Isobel Russell
Left to Right – Kelly Ural, Stephanie Ibekwe,Amanda Fox
Doug Shook, Ashley Oliver
Kelly Ural
Amanda Rhee, Danny Muehlschlegel
Kaplan Leadership Awardees
| Year | Awardee | Title and Institution | Leadership Development Opportunity |
| 2024 | Sarah Cotter, MD | Assistant Professor, Duke University Medical Center | Developing an Evidence-Based Perioperative Curriculum for Cardiac Residents |
| 2024 | Ashley P. Oliver, MD | Clinical Professor, The Regent of the University of California, Los Angeles | Stanford Physicians Leadership Training Certificate |
| 2023 | Sergey Karamnov, MD | Assistant Professor, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School | Brigham Leadership Program |
| 2022 | Sheela Pai Cole, MD, FASE, FASA | Clinical Professor, Stanford University | Stanford LEAD Program |
| 2022 | Stephanie Ibekwe, MD, MPH, MS | Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine | University of Texas at Dallas Executive MBA – Healthcare Organizational Leadership |
| 2021 | Karsten Bartels, MD | Associate Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center | Harvard Leadership Development Course for Physicians in Academic Health Centers |
| 2020 | Lisa Rong, MD | Assistant Professor, Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian | Executive Leadership Coaching Program for Research Leaders |
| 2019 | Ruma Bose, MD | Adult Cardiovascular Anesthesia Program Director, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center | Structural Heart Disease Curriculum for Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellowship |
| 2019 | Danny Muehlschlegel, MD MMSc | Associate Professor of Anesthesia, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School | MIT Sloan Executive MBA |
| 2018 | Anne Cherry, MD | Assistant Professor, Duke University School of Medicine | Development for Leadership of Anesthesiology Fellowship Research Program |
| 2018 | Michael Grant, MD | Assistant Professor, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions | Design and Implementation of an Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery (ERACS) Program |
| 2017 | Rebecca M.Gerlach, MD FRCPC | Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care; Director, Anesthesia Perioperative Medicine ClinicUniversity of ChicagoChicago, IL | Development of Preoperative Anemia Treatment Program for Cardiac Surgery Patients |
| 2016 | James D.O’Leary, MBBCh MD MMED FCARSCI | Assistant Professor, Faculty of MedicineUniversity of TorontoToronto, Canada | Advanced Health Leadership ProgramRotman School of Management, University of Toronto |
| 2015 | Andrew L Wilkey, MD | Northwest Anesthesia, P.A.Minneapolis, MN | Improving Blood Product Utilization in the Cardiac Operating Theater: Thromboelastometry-Guided, Evidence Based Best Practice Guideline for Coagulation Management in Cardiac Surgery |
| 2014 | Tjorvi Perry, MD | Northwest Anasthesia | Improving Operational Efficiency and Clinical Utilization in the Cardiac Surgical and Procedure Areas: Mapping Intervals of Care During a Patients’ Care Cycle! |
| 2014 | Amanda Rhee, MD | The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | The Harvard School of Public Health’s Leadership Development for Physicians in Academic Health Centers Course |
| 2014 | Bryan Maxwell, MD, MPH | Johns Hopkins University | Development of a Perioperative Consult Service for Adult Congenital Heart Disease at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and Across the Mid‐Atlantic Region |
| 2013 | Kelly Ural, MD | Ochsner Clinical Foundation | Development of an Echocardiography Elective Rotation for the Ochsner residency program and Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Fellowship Program Director Track |
| 2012 | Sasha K. Shillcutt, MD, FASE | Associate Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center | The Development of a Multi-Specialty Perioperative Echocardiography Service at the University of Nebraska Medical Center |
| 2012 | Dalia A. Banks, MD | Clinical Director, Department of Anesthesia, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center UCDS | Leadership Coaching Workshop |