Message from the Chair

The Department of Anesthesiology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine has a long tradition of innovation. This creative impulse has kept the Vanderbilt Anesthesiology Department in the vanguard of clinical discovery, basic science research, and translational application of new knowledge throughout perioperative medicine.

Anesthesiology is a dynamic and rapidly evolving medical specialty. Although the operating room anesthetic of today would be familiar to an anesthesiologist from 20 or 40 years ago, our technology has improved, and our scope of practice has expanded dramatically to incorporate the full arc of perioperative medicine. Simultaneously, the economic and regulatory landscape within which we care for our patients has been fundamentally changing beneath our feet for a generation.

Vanderbilt Anesthesiology has the intellectual agility to maintain equilibrium and thrive in this unstable environment. We get the right people onto the team, create the right systems of practice to provide optimum patient care, and develop innovative technology to improve the capabilities of our clinicians. We train the future leaders of perioperative medicine in research, clinical innovation and patient care, and we put those skills into practice every day.

Our department is characterized by optimism, excitement, talent, and a commitment to work together to improve our knowledge and the care we provide to our patients. We welcome individuals at all levels who share this commitment and our passion for creating the best perioperative science and medicine.

sandberg
Warren S. Sandberg, MD, PhD
Chair, Department of Anesthesiology
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Chief of Staff, Vanderbilt University Hospital
Professor of Anesthesiology, Surgery and Biomedical Informatics
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Department Achievements

Susan Eagle, MD, for being accepted as a member of the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) Academy of Research Mentors in Anesthesiology. Academy members include academic anesthesiologists who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to the development of anesthesiologist investigators.

Susan Eagle, MD, has been named the new executive chair for the Department of Anesthesiology, effective July 1. With this role, Dr. Eagle also takes on a hospital level role as the executive medical director of Perioperative Services, anesthesiology representative.

Our Department’s NIH sponsored research training grant, T32 GM108554, has been renewed for an additional 5 years! The training program, titled “Training in Perioperative Science,” provides protected time for research, resources, and support to BH Robbins Scholars. Congratulations to the leaders of the program for continuing to provide outstanding training, mentoring, and support to the Scholars. This award underscores the outstanding quality of research training in our department.

Congratulations to Julie Bohannon, PhD, and graduate student Mary Oliver for being selected as a mentee-mentor pair for the Howard Hughes Gilliam Fellowship. Vanderbilt has been awarded as one out of 50 fellowships nationwide.

Congratulations to Lusine Danakian, MD, for accepting the role of Associate Quality and Patient Safety Director.

Congratulations to Aditi Balakrishna, MD, for accepting the role of Quality and Patient Safety Director.