Research at MGH DACCPM

Overview of Research at the DACCPM

The MGH DACCPM leads the world in anesthesiology research

  • Five of 23 (22%) ASA Excellence in Research Awards since 1996 went to MGH researchers (Keith Miller, Warren Zapol, Clifford Woolf, Jeevandra Martyn, and Emery Brown).
  • The interplay of patient care and science at MGH has stimulated translational developments such as inhaled nitric oxide, short acting non­depolarizing muscle relaxants and new medical devices that benefit patients worldwide.
  • The MGH receives more NIH research funds than any other independent teaching hospital. Learn more about DACCPM research here.

MGH DACCPM Research Statistics for 2018

  • 55 faculty appointees spend over 50% effort in research
  • 50 other faculty appointees contribute to research
  • 35 faculty researchers are clinically active physician-scientists
  • 60 research fellows work with DACCPM PIs
  • 47 NIH Research Grants totaling $16M funding to DACCPM PIs
  • $22M annual DACCPM research expenditures
  • 34,000 sq. ft. of DACCPM research space
  • DACCPM researchers published over 300 scholarly journal articles in 2018

 

Funding for Resident Research

  • The Levy Resident Research Grants, established by a generous alumnus donation, aim to support the career development of outstanding DACCPM residents who wish to improve patient care through research. Recipients receive guidance and financial support for mentored research project. In order to provide residents experience applying for funding, the process is intended to model that of a typical grant application.

Mentorship

We have an extraordinary number of areas of excellence in research with many potential research mentors. We list some of them below:

  • Pharmacology (Brown, Cotten, Forman, Ishizawa, Miller, Purdon, Raines, Solt, Xie)
  • Biomedical Engineering (Barbieri, Cooper, Goldman, Purdon, Sims)
  • Cardiovascular (Hobai, Ichinose, Rhee)
  • Critical Illness (Berra, Kaneki, Martyn, Wiener-Kronish, Vidal-Melo, Zapol)
  • Genetics (Saxena)
  • Neurobiology (Brenner, Brown, Ishizawa, Johnson-Akeju, Mao, Marota, Purdon, Solt, Wainger, Xie)
  • Quality & Safety (Nanji, Pian-Smith)
  • Pain (Brenner, Chen, Houle, Mao, Shen, Turner, Wainger, Zhang)
  • Pulmonary (Berra, Bloch, Roberts, Venegas, Vidal-Melo, Winkler, and Zapol)
  • Simulation & Human Performance (Cooper, Pian-Smith, Raemer, Rudolph)
  • Education (Baker, Minehart, Saddawi-Konefka)

 

Residents in Research

MGH DACCPM Resident Scholarship Statistics (AY 2018-19)

  • 57 unique presentations
  • An additional 49 presentations at national meetings (ASA, AUA, IARS, SCA, SCCM, SOAP, SPA)
  • 5 scientific meeting abstracts
  • 10 published peer-reviewed papers
  • 4 textbook chapters

Formal Residency Tracks

In addition to research “on the side”, our Program offers dedicated research tracks.

PRIME Track

Our PRIME (Pathway to Research Independence with Mentorship and Education) track is overseen by our upcoming Department Chair Dr. Johnson-Akeju, our Program Director, Dr. Saddawi-Konefka, and the director of our Mentored Scientist Research track, Dr. Stu Forman.

This is a categorical match (PGY1-4) and provides an earlier entry point to our research scene. Residents on this track have the option of up to 6 weeks of lab and mentor and lab exposure during their intern year, prior to starting in anesthesia.

Our PRIME track residents benefit from earlier, targeted research mentorship and yearly full-cost travel funding for scientific meeting attendance. The experience culminates in a 6-month research block during the CA3 year (see CA3 Research Track below) and early non-binding targeting to one of our faculty T32 positions through our Mentored Scientist Research Track.

CA3 Research Track

Our CA3 Research Track comes with six months dedicated to research during the final year of residency. Basic, translational, and clinical options are complimented by top-notch statisticians, an innovations lab and engineering group, and plenty of opportunities for presenting your work. This program is designed to function as an on-ramp to a career as a clinician-scientist, typically with mentored research training on the Harvard T32 as the next step (see below).

Transitioning to Faculty

The Mentored Scientist Research Track (MSRT) provides early stage DACCPM faculty researchers with the support they need to achieve research independence.  This includes mentoring and salary supplements from the DACCPM Research Endowment that minimize financial sacrifices associated with research training.  Salary supplements are available to DACCPM faculty in the Harvard Anesthesia Research Training Fellowship (T32), which supports up to 8 trainees from Harvard anesthesia departments (NIH grant 5T32-GM007592), or supported by other Mentored Research Training Grants from NIH (K-awards) or foundations such as FAER, IARS, NSF, AHA, etc..  Faculty members may also receive research training on the DACCPM Health Services Research Fellowship.  Early stage faculty researchers devote 75–80% of their effort to research and career development (required by external funders).  Suitable mentors may be found at Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, affiliated research hospitals and institutes, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or other Boston research institutions.

Harvard Research Training Fellowship (T32) Alumni Statistics (2004-19)

  • 32 graduates, 23 from MGH (72%)
  • 25 (78%) received external grants
  • 70 grants: 14 NIH R awards, 13 NIH K08s, 14 FAER grants, 2 IARS grants, 27 other
  • 1069 publications since starting T32 training

For more information about DACCPM research opportunities during and after residency, or to reach out to specific DACCPM researchers, contact either Dr. Daniel Saddawi-Konefka (residency program director): or Dr. Stuart Forman (T32 program director).