The Anesthesiology faculty of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in investigating a wide variety of topics relevant to anesthesia, critical care and pain medicine for the benefit of our current and future patients.

Current research efforts include:

• Mechanisms of anesthesia, to better define how a diverse group of pharmacological agents produce anesthesia
• Cardiovascular physiology, exploring how the heart adapts to the stresses of anesthesia and surgery
• Neuropharmacology and cell signaling, to understand at the molecular level how drugs affect neuronal function
• Neuromuscular pharmacology, developing and evaluating novel neuromuscular blocking drugs

More information on the Anesthesiology Research Scholarship.

Anesthesiology Department Researchers Awarded Recovery Act Funding
Drs. Hugh C. Hemmings, Jr. and Crina Nimigean have each been granted supplemental awards for the research they are conducting in our department. Dr. Hemmings was awarded supplemental funds for two of his active grants. His award money will go toward his research focused on cell signaling mechanisms in global cerebral ischemia and the synaptic mechanisms of general anesthetics. Dr. Nimigean's supplemental funds will go toward elucidation of ion channel structure and function. The Anesthesiology Department would like to congratulate Dr. Hemmings and Dr. Nimigean and wish them continued success in their research!

Postdoctoral associate, David Posson, Ph.D., wins fellowship award!
Join us in congratulating Dr. David Posson, who recently received the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award - Postdoctoral Fellowship. The Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) uses the T32 grant mechanism to support Institutional Training Grants at eligible institutions to develop or enhance research training opportunities for individuals selected by the institution who are training for careers in biomedical and behavioral research. David received his Ph.D. from the Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. His thesis research, under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Selvin, elucidated key conformational changes that occur within voltage-gated ion channels. In order to continue exploring new areas in ion channel biophysics, David joined the laboratory of Dr. Crina Nimigean at the University of California, Davis in 2007. In 2008, the Nimigean laboratory moved to the Department of Anesthesiology at Weill Cornell Medical College. Currently, David is studying the mechanisms of calcium-activated potassium channels using single channel recordings and crystallography. The Department of Anesthesiology wishes David and the Nimigean Laboratory continued success in their research. Click here to check out the laboratory webpage http://physiology.med.cornell.edu/faculty/nimigean/index.html.

The Department of Anesthesiology announces the launch of a completely renovated Research website, which provides a source of general information regarding research, practice and policies.

WCMC Anesthesiology participation at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Lecture Schedule

Featured publication of the month:

^{Figure 2 Intrathecal infusion of tetrodotoxin alone decreased isoflurane MAC (minimum alveolar concentration of anaesthetic required to abolish movement in 50% of subjects). The effect of tetrodotoxin on MAC (MAC1/MAC0) was dose-related as indicated by non-linear curve fitting of the data with variable slope.}

Bidirectional modulation of isoflurane potency by Intrathecal tetrodotoxin and veratridine in rats
Y Zhang, M Guzinski, EI Eger II, MJ Laster M Sharma, RAHarris, & HC Hemming Jr.

Collaboration with the Eger group at UCSF leads to in vivo evidence of Na+ channel role in inhaled anesthetic action.
Click to the article.