Highlights & Accomplishments in 2023 | Anesthesiology | Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Clinical Accomplishments

Perioperative care for 126,000 procedural cases
Partnership in patient care with all WUSM clinical departments
ICU and telemedicine ICU care across the BJC hospitals
Extensive pain management across 4 BJC hospitals
Preoperative assessment and optimization of 53,600 patients across 3 BJC hospitals
Innovative perioperative telemedicine and machine learning decision support
- Anesthesiology Control Tower helps detect emergencies before they arise (learn more)
Medical students and Anesthesiology clinicians reduced the carbon footprint of anesthesia gases by 60% and reduced costs. (learn more)
Anesthesiologist volunteers with group that treats Ukrainian pediatric burn patients (learn more)
Faculty member appointed Director of Anesthesiology of the Center for Advanced Medicine, South County (learn more)
New Division Chief of Progress West Hospital Division of Anesthesiology (learn more)
Faculty member elected to Executive Committee of the Faculty Council at the School of Medicine (learn more)
CRNA receives Excellence in Nursing Award from St. Louis Magazine (learn more)
Faculty member appointed inaugural Director of Clinical Informatics (learn more)

Research Accomplishments

Ranked #3 in the country for NIH funding among anesthesiology departments (learn more)
128 funded research projects, including 61 R grants, 11 U grants, and 10 K grants within the department.
16 new departmental career training grants
Departmental science spans translational continuum
Emphasis on developing transdisciplinary and research centers.
Robust research collaborations across WashU & School of Medicine
Department hosted Inaugural St. Louis Translational Pain Forum (learn more)
Trainee receives FAER Mentored Research Training Grant (learn more)
Collaboration with the departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry to establish the NeuroTech Hub (learn more)
Faculty member honored with second Diana Forsythe Award at the AMIA 2023 Annual Symposium (learn more)
Seminal scientific publications
- Pain and itch coding mechanisms of polymodal sensory neurons, Cell Reports. November 28, 2023.
- Peripheral CCL2-CCR2 signalling contributes to chronic headache-related sensitization, Brain. October 3, 2023.
- An Intraoperative Telemedicine Program to Improve Perioperative Quality Measures: The ACTFAST-3 Randomized Clinical Trial, JAMA Netw Open. September 23, 2023.
- Identifying molecular phenotypes in sepsis: an analysis of two prospective observational cohorts and secondary analysis of two randomised controlled trials. Lancet Respiratory Medicine, August 2023. (learn more)
- Ligand and G protein selectivity in kappa opioid receptor. Nature, May 3, 2023. (learn more)
- Molecular mechanism of biased signaling at the kappa opioid receptor. Nature Communications, March 11, 2023. (learn more)
- A TRPV4-dependent neuroimmune axis in the spinal cord promotes neuropathic pain, Journal of Clinical Investigation. January 26, 2023.
- Structure-based design of bitopic ligands for the µ-opioid receptor, Nature. November 30, 2022.

Education Accomplishments

11 specialty fellowships offered.
SRNA and APP advanced nursing training programs
Robust participation in medical student education
For the 10^th consecutive year, department faculty lead Pharmacology education at the School of Medicine
Improved onboarding and orientation for the incoming PGY1s with expanded resources and educational topics to interns’ orientation to the department
Expanded Intern Curriculum in residency program with protected time and topics relevant to new trainees.
Protected didactic time for residents expanded from ½-day to full-day curricula
Assistant Professor selected as a member of the Academy of Educators at WUSM (learn more)
Residency Program welcomed 22 new residents (learn more)
Established the annual Pediatric Anesthesia Fellows Bootcamp (learn more)
ASAP Trainee selected as 2023 Dean’s Scholar (learn more)
Nurse Anesthesia program fully transitioned to a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program.
13 department members (7 faculty, 5 fellows, 1 resident) newly certified in Developing Expertise in Clinical Education Certificate Program

People & Culture

Talented and eclectic departmental leadership team (learn more)
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Widespread recognition and impact National of RADAR (Raising Anesthesiology Diversity & Anti-Racism) initiative
- Coordinated programming with the School of Medicine’s Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (ODEI) for Diversity 1.0 – 4.0 module training, offered to all department members.
- Launched the ODEI’s Understanding Systemic Racism curriculum for managers and leaders within the executive leadership team.
- Established Equity Champions across the department (meet the champions)
- Women of WUDA successfully launched with 120+ participating in inaugural retreat (learn more)
- Peers in Anesthesiology Supporting a Fair Environment (PIA SAFE) continues to thrive and support its mission.
  - 70 Champions trained in upstanding, peer support and feedback.
  - Three in-person PIA-SAFE training sessions provided.
  - Two 10-wk educational curriculum programs established to train new champions.
  - Launched digital check-in application for department members.
Professional Development
- Offer a cross-disciplinary professional development program, available to all department members throughout the year. Recently concluded its 4^th cohort (learn more)
- Established an internal Professional Development website with better access to department resources and others curated from the University and beyond.
Health & Wellness
- Department leaders continue to establish and advance programs that build and transform our culture (learn more)
- Established Wellness Champions across the department (meet the champions)
- Quarterly well-being activities scheduled for all department members. Examples include therapeutic horticulture, group exercises, and sound baths.
- Bi-monthly Health & Wellness Newsletter established: The Well-being Word
- Department continues offering Calm resource to all department members
- Wellness champions awarded with two Wellness Connection grants: one helped establish department fitness rooms and another will be used for a book club and lending library system.
- New podcast series, the Well-developed Podcast, focused on well-being and professional development
- Established Take 2 for the Team: a peer-to-peer digital gratitude tool
- Changed all single-stall bathrooms to gender-neutral within the department to offer safe spaces for all to use.
Departmental participation in committee for the School of Medicine’s SAFE Reporting Program
Co-Sponsored the WashU Symposium on Women in Medicine and Science
Established workshops on trauma-informed care, empowered leadership, communication, professional identify formation, and more.
Launched Mayo Clinic Well-Being Index for faculty and clinicians.

Leadership

Head of Department elected to National Academy of Medicine (learn more)
Faculty member appointed to NIH advisory board (learn more)
Njoku named Wise Endowed Chair in Pediatric Anesthesiology (learn more)
Moron-Concepcion named Mallinckrodt Professor of Anesthesiology (learn more)
Faculty member elected to serve as the vice chair for the SOCCA Service Chiefs’ Advisory Council (learn more)
Faculty member appointed Chair-Elect of the Children’s Medical Executive Committee (learn more)
Professor and Director of the Nurse Anesthesia Program inducted as Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (learn more)
New Co-Executive Director Team announced (learn more)
Faculty member selected for AAMC’s Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership program (learn more)
Faculty member serves as Chair of NeuPSIG – the Neuropathic Pain Special Interest group of the IASP, and Scientific Program Committee chair for the 8th International Congress on Neuropathic Pain (learn more)
CRNA earns Distinguished Alumni Award from Goldfarb School of Nursing (learn more)
Two CRNAs appointed Co-Directors of CRNA Mentorship Program (learn more)
Department members accepted into various programs in WashU’s Institute for Leadership Excellence Program:
- Two APPs accepted into Coaching program (learn more)
- Staff member accepted into Leadership Excellence and Development Program (learn more)
Department leaders visit Mandela exhibition and learn about his transformational leadership approach (learn more)
Department leaders participate in retreat focusing on leadership skills and strategic priorities for WUSM and WUDA (learn more)

Department Recognition

Six faculty honored with 2023 Dean’s Impact Award (learn more)
Two residents join the Missouri Society of Anesthesiologists’ Board of Residents (learn more)
Department leadership and several faculty members involved in WashU’s new AI for Health Institute (learn more)
Department recognized by the Office of Sustainability with silver award for reducing environmental footprint (learn more)

Other Department Initiatives

Anesthesiology Summer Research (ASSURE) fellowship graduates third cohort of students (learn more)
New Division of Trauma Anesthesiology established (learn more)