Fourth-year anesthesiology resident Mitsukuni Yoshida, MD, PhD, was recently awarded a $75,000 Research Fellowship Grant from the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER). This award is part of FAER’s spring 2025 grant cycle, which funded six grants totaling $1.3 million.
His project, titled “The Role of Myeloid Cholesterol Metabolism in the Development of Neuropathic Pain,” explores how disrupted cholesterol metabolism in immune cells may contribute to chronic pain—particularly in the context of aging and obesity.
“This FAER Research Fellowship Grant allows me to investigate how cholesterol overload in myeloid cells promotes neuroinflammation and pain,” said Yoshida. “I hope the findings from this project open new avenues for pain management strategies that target metabolic and immune pathways.”
Yoshida is a fourth-year postgraduate trainee (PGY4) and a participant in the department’s Academic Scholars Advancement Program (ASAP), which is designed to accelerate the careers of physician-scientists in anesthesiology and position them to make groundbreaking scientific discoveries.
He will conduct his research at WashU Medicine under the mentorship of Rajendra Apte, MD, PhD, the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and Robert Gereau, PhD, the Dr. Seymour & Rose T. Brown Professor of Anesthesiology and the department’s vice chair for research.
Commenting on the breadth of projects supported in this funding cycle, FAER President and Chief Scientific Officer Max B. Kelz, MD, PhD, and Board Chair Dolores B. Njoku, MD, stated:
“The areas of investigation Drs. Burton, Lunderberg, Steffner, Tetri, Yoshida, and Zazzeron will pursue with their FAER grants touch on a broad range of topics and related specialties, including cardiology, neurology, and obstetrics. FAER is proud of its role in helping prepare these investigators to thrive in and contribute to our specialty.”
The FAER Research Fellowship Grant is highly competitive and is awarded annually to one anesthesiology trainee, providing them with the opportunity to obtain significant training in research techniques and scientific methods. An organization of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), FAER is dedicated to developing the next generation of physician-scientists in anesthesiology and fueling the specialty’s future through scientific discovery.
More information about FAER and the spring 2025 grant recipients is available on the ASA website.