The 2026 Dean’s Impact Awards, presented on behalf of the Dean of WashU Medicine, David H. Perlmutter, MD, recognize 58 outstanding faculty members across WashU Medicine—including six from the Department of Anesthesiology—who exemplify the highest standards of professionalism and excellence in clinical leadership and impact. Nominated by department leaders for their commitment to driving superior patient outcomes, these honorees are celebrated for the compassion and dedication they bring to WashU Medicine and their indefatigable efforts to serve the community.
“It’s a tremendous honor to see six members of our department recognized with the Dean’s Impact Award,” says Michael S. Avidan, MBBCh, FCASA, head of the Department of Anesthesiology. “Through their collaborative approach, clinical expertise, and commitment to patients, they have improved lives for countless people, especially those most vulnerable in our community.”
Congratulations to the six Department of Anesthesiology faculty members who will be recognized during the 2026 Dean’s Impact Award ceremony on Tuesday, April 21, 2026:
Jacob AuBuchon, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Jacob AuBuchon, MD, has demonstrated exceptional skill as a clinician, transformative leadership in pediatric pain medicine, and sustained contributions to patient care across the WashU Medicine. As director of the Pediatric Pain Service and director of pediatric regional anesthesia and pain management, AuBuchon has fundamentally elevated the standard, scope, and reach of care for children with acute and chronic pain. At St. Louis Children’s Hospital, he leads a comprehensive pediatric pain program encompassing a chronic pain clinic, pediatric regional anesthesia, and acute pain services. Since assuming this role, he has driven remarkable clinical growth, increasing pediatric regional anesthesia volume by more than 500 percent, doubling the size of the pediatric pain clinic, and expanding multidisciplinary care through the addition of psychologists and physical therapists. AuBuchon also launched a new fellowship track, ensuring that this expanded clinical excellence will be sustained through rigorous training of future leaders. His clinical expertise is grounded in extensive training, including residency at WashU Medicine and fellowships in pain management and pediatric anesthesiology, complemented by advanced training in pain and palliative care at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Widely regarded as a thoughtful, well-rounded clinician, he is generous with his time, routinely advising junior faculty and residents and modeling best practices at the bedside. Through visionary leadership, measurable clinical outcomes, and unwavering commitment to children and families, AuBuchon exemplifies the very highest ideals of clinical expertise and impact.
Charl De Wet, MBChB
Professor of Anesthesiology
Charl De Wet, MBChB, is a world-class clinician whose career reflects uncommon depth, breadth, and sustained impact on patient care, education, and institutional excellence. Trained in South Africa, and later in the United States at the University of Chicago, Stanford, and UCSF, De Wet brings a uniquely comprehensive perspective to cardiothoracic and critical care anesthesiology. Since joining WashU Medicine in 2000, he has served with distinction as professor of anesthesiology and surgery. During his two decades as medical director of the cardiothoracic intensive care unit (CTICU), he provided steady, trusted leadership, shaping the CTICU into a center of excellence for the care of the most critically ill patients. Internationally renowned as a superb clinician and expert in perioperative transesophageal echocardiography, De Wet is widely regarded as the clinician of choice for patients with the most complex and high-risk physiology. His expertise in pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure, cardiogenic shock, ventricular assist devices, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has advanced care for patients with severe cardiovascular disease, and his pioneering research on inhaled prostacyclin has had lasting clinical impact. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he led care in the CTICU with courage and compassion. For his sustained excellence as a clinician, educator, innovator, and leader, De Wet is richly deserving of a Dean’s Impact Award.
Nicole Durko, DO
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Nicole Durko, DO, has delivered sustained excellence, leadership, and transformative impact in obstetric anesthesiology. Over two decades at WashU Medicine, Durko has distinguished herself as a clinician whose expertise has directly improved the safety and experience of countless women and newborns in the St. Louis community. Her clinical acumen is most evident in her seminal role at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, where she serves as director of obstetric anesthesiology and, for the last three years, as associate chief of the Division of Obstetric Anesthesiology at WashU Medicine. Under her leadership, MBMC earned the prestigious Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) Center of Excellence designation in 2020, an achievement that reflects the highest standards of obstetric anesthesia care and positions the institution as a national and international benchmark. This recognition is a direct testament to Durko’s commitment to evidence-based practice, multidisciplinary collaboration, and uncompromising clinical quality. Beyond her individual clinical skill, she has driven meaningful system-level improvements through active service on maternal safety, quality, and intersociety committees, ensuring that excellence in care is both durable and scalable. Her leadership in the clinical expansion of WashU Medicine Anesthesiology at MBMC further underscores her ability to translate expertise into broader institutional impact. Widely regarded as a leading obstetric anesthesiologist, Durko exemplifies clinical excellence in its fullest sense — expert care delivered with rigor, leadership, and lasting benefits to patients, families, and the health system as a whole.
Ivan Kangrga, MD, PhD
Professor of Anesthesiology
Ivan Kangrga, MD, PhD, exemplifies a rare combination of exceptional clinical excellence and system-level leadership. A world-renowned clinical anesthesiologist with deep expertise in liver transplantation, vascular surgery, and perioperative medicine, he has sustained the highest standards of bedside care throughout his career. He is undoubtedly one of the anesthesiologists with the most diverse and impressive clinical skill sets, and his particular expertise in caring for patients with hepatic failure is incomparable. As director of clinical anesthesiology and vice chair for health system liaison, he has served as a trusted bridge between WashU Medicine Anesthesiology and the Barnes-Jewish Hospital system, strengthening collaboration, alignment, and mutual trust. His impact has been most evident during periods of significant institutional strain. He played a central leadership role during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping guide perioperative services through unprecedented uncertainty while maintaining patient safety and professionalism. He has been instrumental in addressing operating room staffing shortages and in recruiting outstanding faculty to stabilize and strengthen the anesthesia workforce during a national crisis. Through close partnership with quality and safety leaders, he has advanced high-reliability perioperative care across the health system, with a consistent focus on efficiency, teamwork, and excellence.
Chak Lattanand, MD, MBA
Professor of Anesthesiology
Chak Lattanand, MD, MBA, exemplifies clinical expertise, strategic vision, and unwavering institutional commitment. From the outset of his career at WashU Medicine, he distinguished himself as an outstanding clinician and leader, serving as one of the Department of Anesthesiology’s most effective chief residents. He led the Anesthesiology Division at Progress West Hospital with distinction for 15 years. During this period, he built the division from the ground up, fostered a collaborative and high-performing culture, and expanded the department’s clinical footprint beyond the traditional tertiary-care setting. Since his appointment in 2021 as vice chair for clinical operations, Lattanand has overseen the department’s clinical enterprise during a period of national workforce shortages and escalating operational complexity. Lattanand consistently leads by example and is one of the most accomplished and versatile clinicians in the department. Remarkably, he works clinically in the operating rooms in all the adult hospitals in which WashU Medicine Anesthesiology provides clinical service. He is comfortable in virtually any clinical anesthetic setting — obstetric, regional, outpatient, high-risk inpatient — where he drives safety, quality, and optimal patient outcomes. Lattanand has a stellar reputation with surgical, nursing, and anesthesiology colleagues, and is frequently called upon to provide care to the most complex and vulnerable patients.
Lesley Rao, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Lesley Rao, MD, is a truly gifted pain management and anesthesiology clinician. As division chief of pain management, Rao has built and led a thriving clinical division addressing one of the most urgent challenges in modern medicine: the alleviation of acute and chronic pain. As a practicing clinician, she continues to provide hands-on care in the outpatient chronic pain clinic, inpatient acute pain service, and operating rooms, ensuring that her leadership remains grounded in the realities of patient care. She directs the division’s clinical and educational missions, serves as clinical section chief of the WashU Medicine Pain Center, and leads the Pain Management Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. As fellowship program director from 2014 to 2021, she trained more than 70 clinical pain specialists, sustaining Missouri’s only ACGME-accredited pain fellowship and positively impacting the regional and national workforce. Under her leadership, the division has expanded across three BJC hospitals, with further strategic growth underway. A graduate of Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Rao completed her anesthesiology residency and pain medicine fellowship at WashU Medicine. Since joining the faculty in 2010, she has served the institution with distinction. Her career trajectory reflects excellence at every stage and deep institutional trust.