DAPM at IARS 2024

DAPM at IARS 2024

By Theodora Wingert, MD 

UCLA had an outstanding presence at the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) 2024 Annual Meeting this year in Seattle, WA. The camaraderie and collaboration among UCLA anesthesiology residents, fellows, and faculty physicians was abundantly clear. It was an excellent opportunity for all to share ideas and network with colleagues from around the world. 

Faculty, fellow, resident, and medical student presentations were in notable in both number and quality during the IARS conference. This year included 4 faculty- delivered or moderated panel discussions, 3 oral presentations, and 8 poster presentations by residents and medical students. And one resident-mentor team took home the Best of Basic Science Award! We are very proud of the remarkable research contributions of our UCLA faculty and trainees to the field of anesthesiology. 

On Friday, May 17, Leslie Wann, a UCLA medical student, delivered an exceptional oral presentation titled “Point-of-Care Ultrasound Training to Screen for Frailty.” Her mentor is Dr. Cecilia Canales, Assistant Clinical Professor.

On Saturday, May 18, Dr. Stephanie Lam, CA-2, gave an excellent oral presentation on “Preoperative Fasting and Clinical Aspiration: Aa Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Recent Literature.” Her mentors in this research work are Drs. Robert Whittington and Edward Livingston.

On Sunday, May 19, Dr. Varina Clark, CA-1, gave an impressive oral presentation of work titled “In Vivo miR10b-5p Inhibition in Rats is a Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Pulmonary Hypertension,” which was selected as one of the Top Basic Science Presentations. Her faculty mentor is Dr. Soban Umar, Associate Clinical Professor-in-Residence and Thomas Grove Endowed Chair in Anesthesiology. Dr. Clark went on to win the award in her category for Best Basic Science Presentation!

Then Dr. Emily Methangkool, Associate Clinical Professor and Department Chair of Olive View Medical Center, moderated the a pPanel titled “'OUCH! Did That Just Happen?': Anesthesiology's Workplace Violence Problem.” This panel brought diverse ideas and experiences from Hawaii, Texas, and Boston.

And finally, Dr. Theodora Wingert, Associate Clinical Professor, spoke on a panel on “Database Logistics for Anesthesiologists: Navigating the Ins and Outs of Registries and Multicenter Studies.” She was joined on the panel by Drs. Annery Garcia-Marcinkiewitz, from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Meredith Kato, from Oregon Health Science University. Drs. Lindsay Brown, Assistant Clinical Professor, and Lisa Lee, Assistant Professor-in-Residence, both Assistant Clinical Professors at UCLA moderated the discussion.

Below are the department’s research and clinical work presented as scientific posters:

Austin Wu, MD, CA-3 - Use of high flow nasal cannula in a patient with Down Syndrome under deep sedation 

Co-authors: Ashley Adams, MD

Faculty Mentor: Stefan Besada, MD

Emma Huebner, MD, CA-3 - Retrospective analysis of brain changes on MRI as markers of postoperative cognitive dysfunction in heart transplant patients

Co-authors: Ethan Han, BS, Jeanette Chin, MD, Bhaswati Roy PhD

Faculty Mentors: Rajesh Kumar, PhD, Matthew Scott Vandiver, MD, PhD

Justine Liang, MD, CA-2 - Portopulmonary hypertension in a liver transplant resulting in right ventricular failure and requiring intraoperative venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support

Faculty Mentors: Christopher Wray, MD, Ali Salehi, MD, Christine Nguyen-Buckley, MD

Jennifer Nam, MD, CA-3 - Risk factors associated with perioperative adverse events after cleft palate repair

Co-authors: Febina Padiyath, MBBS, Elizabeth M. O'Brien, MD, Marc Parris, MD, MPH, Annery G Garcia-Marcinkiewicz, MD

Faculty Mentors: Lindsay Brown, MD, Lisa Lee, MD

John Park, MD, PhD , CA-3 - Molecular dissection of right ventricular remodeling in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Faculty Mentors: Soban Umar, MD, PhD

Mark Guirguis, MD, CA-2 - Preoperative VV-ECMO for repair of large iatrogenic tracheal injury: aA case report

Faculty Mentor: Linda Li, MD

Sara Arastoo, MD, CA-3 - Approaching emergent intubation in a trauma patient with a large goiter

Co-authors: Brian Park, MD, 

Faculty Mentor: Linda Li, MD

Sara Arastoo, MD, CA-3  - Management of intraoperative hemorrhage during resection of a giant renal angiomyolipoma

Faculty Mentors: Kevin Youssefzadeh, MD, Linda Li, MD