Research & Awards Funded

Starter Grant

“I am extremely grateful for the critical support that the SCA Starter Grant offered in my career development. This was the first research funding I had received, and it truly provided the foundation for my career as a physician scientist. With this initial support, I was able to acquire the skills and preliminary data for a successful five-year K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The SCA research grants support has provided a platform for not only the advancement of my research, but also mentoring residents and students in numerous projects.”

I received the SCA mid-career research award to support my post-pilot research into regional anesthesia techniques for patients undergoing cardiac surgery (ESP catheters for on-pump coronaries and valves). Receiving the award was an incredible honor and I feel indebted to the SCA – not only do I realize it’s an incredibly competitive process, but to be considered in the ranks of the researchers who have come before and after me is very humbling.

As a direct result of support from the award, I received protected non-clinical time allowing me to conduct research, additional related coursework, take on mentoring roles (locally as well as through SCA) and really focus on my career development. This was in addition to funds used to cover research coordinator time, statistical support, and biomarker storage and analysis. These are very tangible benefits of SCA research grant support. The other intangible benefits relate to the psychological boost of receiving the grant, which I can draw on when there are challenges and road blocks. As I continue my career as a clinician scientist, I am making sure to give back to the SCA via volunteering and annual donations to support the missions of the SCA.

Mid-Career Grant

“It has been a tremendous honor to receive the very competitive SCA Mid-career award. Being funded by the SCA has made a big impact on my ability to continue research and transition from an early stage investigator towards a mid-career role. This grant allowed us to generate sufficient data to obtain NIH funding to investigate the fundamental mechanisms behind pulmonary hypertension – a deadly disease with great impact on perioperative management.”

Starter Grant

“The SCA Starter grant was the critical support I needed to launch my career as a clinician scientist at just the right time. The starter grant gave me the opportunity to learn about research and generate data leading to two successful NIH proposals. I am so grateful for this support, and it was instrumental in helping me pursue my long-term goal of improving patient care through pragmatic clinical trials.”

Starter Grant

“My SCA starter grant was the first extramural funding I received as a new faculty member, and it set me on a path towards NIH funding.  This early grant allowed me to fund early work that would lead to a K-08 from the NIGMS (as well as negotiate for an appropriate amount of protected non-clinical time), which then lead to an R-21 Trailblazer award from the NIBIB.  Device development is difficult, but we are honing in on a realistic (i.e. affordable and actually fits in an OR) technical solution to the problem of brain ischemia monitoring – all existing technology looks for surrogate measure of ischemia, e.g. hemoglobin saturation, whereas we seek to interrogate the brain tissue itself using advanced near infrared spectroscopy equipment.  These early stage grants are so important if we are going to launch the careers of academic anesthesiologists – in addition to funding projects and helping carve out protected time, they offer external validation that is useful to NIH and other grant reviewers who are short on time and have to make snapshot decisions based on a limited amount of data.”

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.

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.

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.