APSF Stoelting Conference 2025
September 3, 2025 - September 4, 2025
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“Transforming Maternal Care: Innovations and Collaborations to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality”
Scroll down to watch the individual presentations from the conference below.
Click the names or photos below for more information.
Planning Committee:
Co-Chair
The Palmer House Hilton
17 E Monroe St
Chicago, IL 60603
Visit The Palmer House Hilton website for hotel information.
For registration and conference inquiries, please contact Stacey Maxwell, APSF Administrator ([email protected]).
Thank you for supporting the 2025 Stoelting Conference:
 BD is advancing the world of health™ with innovations for advanced patient monitoring. Our continuous noninvasive blood pressure monitoring and our AI-guided hemodynamic monitoring solutions provide real-time data and insights that enhance decision making across a range of clinical situations. |
 Intelliguard protects patients and hospitals by creating a continuously improving environment of safety around every medication decision through an advanced data platform, interoperable software architecture, and RFID-powered stations and cabinets. We are proud to sponsor the 2025 Stoelting Conference and work alongside APSF in their mission to improve the safety of patients during anesthesia care. |
 We lead global healthcare technology. Our Mission — to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life — unites a global team of 90,000+ people. Transforming the lives of two people every second, every hour, every day. In Acute Care & Monitoring, we empower clinicians with actionable insights to personalize patient care — anytime, anywhere. We are proud partners of APSF and look forward to the 2025 Stoelting Conference to work together on transforming maternal care. |
 Solventum creates inventive, clinically based solutions that help transform the patient experience and improve outcomes. Our 3M™ Bair Hugger™ Temperature Management Solutions, including warming blankets, gowns, and non-invasive core temperature monitoring, help support care teams in maintaining normothermia. We proudly support the APSF Stoelting Conference because we believe transforming maternal care requires collaboration, innovation, and a shared commitment to solving big healthcare challenges. |
For information on how to support this conference, please contact Jill Maksimovich, APSF Director of Development ([email protected]).
OBJECTIVES
- Describe the leading causes of severe maternal morbidity (SMM) and innovative strategies to reduce SMM.
- Summarize what is known about maternal health disparities and actions that anesthesia clinicians can take to advance birth equity.
- Summarize what is known about the major preventable causes of maternal mortality and the potential role of anesthesiologists in reducing these complications.
- Identify opportunities for collaboration across role groups to overcome current maternal care challenges
PROGRAM
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*All times are CST
6:00 – 9:00 PM
Check-in and Pre-Conference Reception
The Palmer House Hilton
6:00 – 8:00 AM
Full Buffet Breakfast and Networking
Introduction
8:00 – 8:30 AM
Welcome: Why Are We Here and What Are Our Expected Outcomes?
Daniel J. Cole, MD
Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology,
Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine,
University of California, Los Angeles
Daniel J. Cole, M.D. is the President of Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation and serves on the Board of Directors. A neuroanesthesiologist by training he currently services as a Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles. He has published extensively, with more than 350 original manuscripts, chapters, abstracts, and editorials to his credit. He is also a distinguished lecturer with over 300 invited presentations on a broad range of topics in anesthesiology.
Cole is a past president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. He is the Executive Director for Professional Affairs for the American Board of Anesthesiology, and the American Board of Medical Specialties. Most importantly he is a champion for patient safety throughout his many roles in organized medicine.
May Pian-Smith, MD, MS
Associate Professor of Anesthesia,
Harvard Medical School
Senior Obstetric Anesthesiologist,
Mass General Brigham (MGB), Boston, MA
May Pian-Smith, MD, MS is an Associate Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, and a senior obstetric anesthesiologist at Mass General Brigham (MGB). Until recently, she served as the MGB Enterprise Director for Anesthesiology Quality and Safety, leading synergies between 14 different hospital sites.
In addition to being a clinically-active expert, she is a grant-funded researcher in the fields of women’s health, education, communication, quality and safety, and safety culture; subjects on which she has published, and lectured nationally and internationally. Pian-Smith’s research that has been funded by the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) and the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) has focused on “speaking up” across hierarchical gradients, with the goal of improving education, enhancing the role and responsibility of all members of care teams, and supporting safety culture. She has advanced fellowship training in medical education (Harvard Medical School) and patient safety leadership (NPSF-AHA).
She currently serves on the Board of Directors for APSF, FAER, and for the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) as its Past President.
Meghan Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP, FCCM
Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology,
Columbia University, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Meghan B. Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP, FCCM is Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is a practicing anesthesiologist whose research focuses on improving the uptake and effective use (i.e. implementation) of evidence-based communication in acute and perioperative care. Connect with her on LinkedIn @lanefall.
Session 1: Keynote Speaker
8:30 – 9:00 AM
A call to action: why we’re here, why this is important
Click to Watch the Presentation
Elliott Main, MD
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Stanford University, Dunlevie Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine
Elliott Main, MD founded and directed the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative for 16 years to 2023 and served as the Chair of the California Maternal Mortality Review Committee during those years. Nationally, Main was the co-founder and currently the lead for QI Implementation for AIM, the national project, funded thru HRSA and based at ACOG, for supporting state Perinatal Quality Collaboratives in their efforts to reduce maternal mortality and severe morbidity. Main is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University in the Dunlevie Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine. He has served or chaired national committees on Maternal Quality Measurement for ACOG, the AMA, The Joint Commission, Leap Frog and CMS. He has authored over 180 articles on maternal mortality, improving obstetric outcomes, obstetric quality measures and perinatal collaboratives. Main has received the ACOG Distinguished Service Award for his work in quality improvement and in 2025, he received the National Quality Forum/The Joint Commission John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Individual Achievement.
Session 2: Major Co-Morbidities
9:00 – 10:35 AM
Introductions
Cardiac Disease
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Jen Banayan, MD
Associate Professor,
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
Editor of APSF Newsletter
Jennifer Banayan, MD, is an associate professor at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine where she practices obstetric anesthesia. She completed her anesthesia residency and cardiothoracic fellowship at University of Chicago. Her scholarly activity and educational contributions have been related to the intersection of her two clinical interests in cardiac and obstetric anesthesiology. Her academic career centers on maternal safety with a specific focus on maternal mortality, cardiac disease in the parturient, maternal resuscitation, and increasing provider utilization of focused cardiac ultrasound in the obstetric patient. She is editor of the APSF Newsletter.
Sepsis
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Emily Naoum, MD
Obstetric Anesthesiologist and Critical Care Physician,
Massachusetts General Hospital
Program Director of Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship
Assistant Professor,
Harvard Medical School
Emily Naoum attended undergraduate and medical school at the University of Michigan before residency in Anesthesiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. She then completed Obstetric Anesthesia and Critical Care fellowships at the University of Michigan. She is an Assistant Professor at MGH and Harvard Medical School and serves as the Program Director of the Obstetric Anesthesia fellowship. She is an active member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists, Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology, and Extracorporeal Life Support Organization. She practices a mix of obstetric anesthesia, surgical critical care, and general anesthesia and has research interests in extracorporeal life support in pregnancy, maternal critical illness, and cardiovascular critical care.
Hemorrhage
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Beth Clayton, DNP, CRNA, FAANA, FAAN
Professor & Program Director, Nurse Anesthesia Major
University of Cincinnati, College of Nursing
Beth Ann Clayton is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, a Level I Trauma Center and a Level IV Maternity Hospital. She is also a Professor and Director of the Nurse Anesthesia Program at the university. She is a primary author of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) Practice Guidelines: Analgesia and Anesthesia for the Obstetric Patient. Beth leads the faculty for the AANA Spinal Epidural and Obstetric Essentials Workshop and serves as a speaker for the Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology Fundamentals Workshop. She serves on the AANA Foundation Malpractice Closed Claims Research Committee, focusing on obstetric anesthesia claims. She is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Nursing and the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology. Beth has been appointed to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC). Additionally, she has served on the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Council on Patient Safety in Women’s Health Care, the Joint Commission Perinatal Safety Standards Review Panel, and the National Quality Forum Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Committee.
Venous Thromboembolism
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Lisa Leffert, MD
Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology,
Yale Medical School
Chief of the Obstetric Anesthesia Division,
Massachusetts General Hospital
Lisa Leffert, MD is the Nicholas M Greene Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology at Yale Medical School in New Haven, CT. She is a previous Past President of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) and long-time Division Chief of the Obstetric Anesthesia Division at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. Leffert lectures nationally and internationally on diverse topics such as the anesthetic management of patients with neurologic disease and vulnerabilities, strategies for placing neuraxial anesthetics in patients with bleeding disorders. She has led an interdisciplinary effort to create a SOAP consensus statements on neuraxial anesthesia in the obstetric patient on thromboprophylaxis and higher dose anticoagulants and thrombocytopenia, worked collaboratively with ASRA on key guidelines, and currently leads the SOAP Research Network General Anesthesia Registry.
Q&A Speakers
10:35 – 10:55 AM
Mid-Morning Break
Session 3: Inequities in Care Delivery and Outcomes
10:55 AM – 12:30 PM
Introductions
Disparities in outcomes
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Jill Mhyre, MD
Dola S. Thompson Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology,
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR
Jill Mhyre, MD is The Dola S Thompson Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. Her scholarly activity focuses on obstetric quality and safety. She is Executive Section Editor of Obstetric Anesthesiology for Anesthesia & Analgesia, a member of the ACGME Residency Review Committee for Anesthesiology, Senior Editor for the American Board of Anesthesiology Advanced Written Examination, and Chair of the SOAP Research Committee.
Implementation Science
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Meghan Lane-Fall, MD
Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology,
Columbia University, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Meghan B. Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP, FCCM is Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is a practicing anesthesiologist whose research focuses on improving the uptake and effective use (i.e. implementation) of evidence-based communication in acute and perioperative care. Connect with her on LinkedIn @lanefall.
Opportunities for technology to improve monitoring and care and address disparities
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Mahesh Vaidyanathan, MD, MBA
Assistant Professor,
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
I am Board-certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology, and hold active medical licensure in the state of Illinois. I currently serve as an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and hold attending appointments at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Palos Hospital, Central DuPage Hospital, and Ann & Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. I serve as the Lead of the NMHC Office of Wellbeing Analytics team, the Clinical Liaison for patient monitoring for the hospital system, and the Clinical Lead for the deployment of Capsule Surveillance, our remote monitoring and waveform data acquisition system.
I co-lead the creation of the Digital Healthcare and Data Science Curriculum in the Feinberg School of Medicine. Along with David Leibovitz, MD, I helped create a curriculum to introduce our medical students to Data Science, Digital Health Care Tools, and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Medicine. We are one of the first medical schools to have a dedicated curriculum in the country.
I additionally hold multiple national leadership roles in the American Society of Anesthesiologists and serve on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Society of Obstetric Anesthesiology and Perinatology.
Equitable Monitoring with Pulse Oximetry: One less hurdle to closing maternal health gaps
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Michael Mestek, PhD
Vice President of Clinical Research & Medical Science
Medtronic
Acute Care & Monitoring Operating Unit
Michael Mestek, PhD is the Vice President of Clinical Research & Medical Science for Medtronic’s Acute Care & Monitoring Operating Unit headquartered in Colorado. He and his team produce clinical and economic evidence and educate on non-invasive physiological sensing technologies and airway management tools that are designed to help clinicians advance patient care. Michael joined Medtronic in 2009 and has held positions of increasing responsibility in Research & Development, Global Marketing, in addition to Clinical Research & Medical Science.
In addition to his role in industry, Michael is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus where he has taught graduate-level courses related to medical device commercialization. He is also the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Colorado BioScience Institute, a non-profit that provides education, workforce and career development, and innovation support to the local bioscience community.
Prior to joining Medtronic, Michael was a Research Fellow and National Institutes of Health trainee in the Department of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder where he conducted translational research on how lifestyle modification improves cardiovascular and metabolic health. He holds a PhD in Exercise Physiology from Auburn University.
Q&A Speakers
12:30 – 1:30 PM
Lunch
Session 4: Maternal Mental Health and Trauma-Informed Care
1:30 – 3:05 PM
Introductions
Trauma-informed care
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Tracey Vogel, MD
Obstetric Anesthesiologist
Director of the Perinatal Trauma-informed Care Clinic,
Pittsburgh, PA
Tracey Vogel, MD is an Obstetric Anesthesiologist, trained sexual assault counselor, and the creator and Director of the Perinatal Trauma-informed Care Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
She received her MD degree from the University of Pittsburgh and finished her anesthesia training, including a fellowship in obstetric anesthesiology, from Stanford University in California. She speaks nationally and internationally on the topic of birth trauma and the need for trauma-awareness in obstetrics and actively promotes medical “centers of excellence” in providing trauma-informed care for obstetric patients. She offers full-day training sessions on trauma-informed care principles throughout Pennsylvania as an initiative through the PA PQC (Perinatal Quality Collaborative). Her hospital based work also includes involvement with quality assurance processes, education and training of nurses, residents, and medical students, and creation of specific care plans for high risk obstetric patients including those with prior sexual trauma, opioid tolerance and substance use disorders, and mental health concerns. Beyond her work in hospital settings, she is part of the governor’s HEAL PA Taskforce seeking to make Pennsylvania a trauma-aware state.
Substance use disorder
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Brinda Kamdar, MD
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology,
Harvard Medical School
Program Director for the Regional Anesthesiology,
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)
Brinda Bharat Kamdar is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Harvard Medical School, where she serves as Program Director for the Regional Anesthesiology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She serves as an associate editor for the Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine journal, and has been recognized for mentorship of faculty as the recipient of the MGH Faculty Clinical Mentorship Award in 2017 and 2022. Particular areas of interest are real-time lumbar and thoracic neuraxial ultrasound, a topic she has given multiple invited lectures including at SOAP and ASRA meetings as well as pain management in obstetric patients with opioid use disorder, an evolving specialty in which she has developed significant expertise. In addition, she is an extremely passionate teacher at MGH, being selected as the Honorary Keynote speaker to deliver the Class of 2024 MGH Anesthesia Department Commencement Address, as well as more recently as the 2025 SOAP Teacher of the Year and 2025 ASRA Excellence in Education Award recipient.
Patient centered care, quality, and setting up a research agenda to address issues
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Grace Lim, MD, MS
Professor and Chief of OB & Women’s Anesthesiology
University of Pittsburg
Grace Lim, MD, MS, is a board-certified obstetric anesthesiologist and physician scientist at whose work centers on advancing patient safety in perinatal care. As Professor and Chief of OB & Women’s Anesthesiology, she has led system-wide improvements in cesarean delivery care, including Enhanced Recovery protocols and postpartum hemorrhage bundles. Dr. Lim is the principal investigator of ELEVATE, a PCORI-funded initiative aimed at optimizing anesthesia choices during cesarean delivery through patient-centered comparative effectiveness research. Her broader research portfolio, supported by NIH and PCORI, focuses on opioid-sparing strategies, labor pain mechanisms, and safe medication use in pregnancy. Nationally, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) and holds advisory roles with ACOG, AIM, and ASA.
Healing in the aftermath; communities, foundations, resources, etc.
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Ms. Miranda Klassen
Executive Director, AFE Foundation
Miranda Klassen is the Executive Director of the Amniotic Fluid Embolism Foundation, which she founded in 2008 after surviving an AFE during childbirth. She co-leads the AFE Registry, has published research on AFE and support during and after severe maternal events. Miranda lives in San Diego with her husband, Bryce, a critical care nurse, and their son, Van.
Q&A Speakers
3:05 – 3:25 PM
Mid-Afternoon Break
Session 5: Intrapartum Challenges and Emergencies, Including Pain Management During Cesarean
3:25 – 5:00 PM
Introductions
Communication and trust among teams and with patients
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May Pian-Smith, MD, MS
Associate Professor of Anesthesia,
Harvard Medical School
Senior Obstetric Anesthesiologist,
Mass General Brigham (MGB), Boston, MA
May Pian-Smith, MD, MS is an Associate Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, and a senior obstetric anesthesiologist at Mass General Brigham (MGB). Until recently, she served as the MGB Enterprise Director for Anesthesiology Quality and Safety, leading synergies between 14 different hospital sites.
In addition to being a clinically-active expert, she is a grant-funded researcher in the fields of women’s health, education, communication, quality and safety, and safety culture; subjects on which she has published, and lectured nationally and internationally. Pian-Smith’s research that has been funded by the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) and the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) has focused on “speaking up” across hierarchical gradients, with the goal of improving education, enhancing the role and responsibility of all members of care teams, and supporting safety culture. She has advanced fellowship training in medical education (Harvard Medical School) and patient safety leadership (NPSF-AHA).
She currently serves on the Board of Directors for APSF, FAER, and for the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) as its Past President.
Inadequately treated pain
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Heather Nixon, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Immediate Past President SOAP
Heather Nixon, MD is a Professor of Anesthesiology and the Division Chief of Obstetric Anesthesiology at the University of Illinois Hospital at Chicago where she has worked for the last 15 years.
She completed her residency at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical School and her Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital – Feinberg School of Medicine. Her previous academic appointments at the University of Illinois at Chicago include Residency Program Director, Associate Head for Education and Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship Director. Nixon also served on the Illinois Maternal Mortality Review Committee for 6 years.
Nationally, she served six years as the Vice Chair for the American Society of Anesthesiologists Committee on Obstetric Anesthesia and on the Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology Board of Directors for the last decade. Heather is the current Immediate President of the Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology. She is a recognized national and international speaker and is a passionate advocate for patient safety as it relates to medication management in anesthesiology and the patient experience in obstetric anesthesia care. Notably, she is featured in the New York Time and Serial Productions “The Retrievals Season 2” for her quality improvement and safety work in the clinical area of intraoperative pain during cesarean delivery.
SIMULATION for addressing challenges
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Kokila Thenuwara, MD
Clinical Professor, Obstetric Anesthesia
Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs and Development,
Department of Anesthesia,
University of Iowa
Kokila N Thenuwara MBBS MD MME MHCDS is a Clinical Professor in Obstetric Anesthesia and the Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs and development, Department of Anesthesia at the University of Iowa.
She obtained her medical education at North Colombo Medical College, Ragama, Sri Lanka. She completed her internship in internal medicine, and residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Iowa. She obtained her Master’s in Medical Education from the University of Iowa and Master’s in Health Care Delivery Science from Dartmouth College, and is currently following a Certification in Diversity, equity, Inclusion and belonging from the Harvard Extension school.
She is the Director for the New Faculty Development Program and was the Chair of the Best Practices Committee at the department of Anesthesia, University of Iowa.
She is the chair of Subcommittee for Simulation based Education, supported by a HRSA grant, and an appointed member of the Iowa State Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
She is the taskforce Chair for DEI for the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) and is also an applied examiner, question editor and OSCE developer for the ABA, specializing in ethics and DEI.
She is the 2024 recipient of the IDEAL ( Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Acceptance and Leadership ) award given by the Association for University Anesthesiologists.
She considers it a privilege to be a member of the Iowa State Maternal Mortality review committee and is grateful for the opportunity to be of service to her State, especially women who are vulnerable, and mothers who are at risk of dying. She hopes that her contribution through this committee and her work with the HRSA grant will help avert deaths of mothers in Iowa and beyond.
Addressing obstetric crises with digital obstetric crisis checklists
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Alex Hannenberg, MD
Senior Research Scientist, Core Faculty Member,
Ariadne Labs, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Adjunct Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology,
Tufts University School of Medicine
Alex Hannenberg, MD was the 2010 president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and recently served as its Chief Quality Officer. He is senior research scientist and core faculty member at Ariadne Labs, a health systems innovation center at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Brigham & Women’s Hospital where he works on surgical safety programs including checklists for critical event management and team-based case review implementation. He led the development of a simulation-based, low-barrier training framework adopted by the American Hospital Association, the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (TeamSTEPPS 3.0) and the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation. He was previously a director and chair of the national Council on Surgical and Perioperative Safety. He was chosen by the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation to deliver the annual Ellison C. Pierce Jr. Patient Safety Lecture in 2016.
In 2011, he joined with an international group of surgeons and anesthesiologists to create the Lifebox foundation, a charity focused on improving outcomes of surgery and anesthesia globally: “Saving Lives Through Safer Surgery.” He remains a trustee and is now chair of the foundation.
He is Adjunct Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at Tufts University School of Medicine.
He has been recognized for his work with ASA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award and was elected to Honorary Membership in the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.
Q&A Speakers
5:00 PM
Wrap-Up of Day 1
Meghan Lane-Fall, MD
Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology,
Columbia University, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Meghan B. Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP, FCCM is Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is a practicing anesthesiologist whose research focuses on improving the uptake and effective use (i.e. implementation) of evidence-based communication in acute and perioperative care. Connect with her on LinkedIn @lanefall.
May Pian-Smith, MD, MS
Associate Professor of Anesthesia,
Harvard Medical School
Senior Obstetric Anesthesiologist,
Mass General Brigham (MGB), Boston, MA
May Pian-Smith, MD, MS is an Associate Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, and a senior obstetric anesthesiologist at Mass General Brigham (MGB). Until recently, she served as the MGB Enterprise Director for Anesthesiology Quality and Safety, leading synergies between 14 different hospital sites.
In addition to being a clinically-active expert, she is a grant-funded researcher in the fields of women’s health, education, communication, quality and safety, and safety culture; subjects on which she has published, and lectured nationally and internationally. Pian-Smith’s research that has been funded by the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) and the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) has focused on “speaking up” across hierarchical gradients, with the goal of improving education, enhancing the role and responsibility of all members of care teams, and supporting safety culture. She has advanced fellowship training in medical education (Harvard Medical School) and patient safety leadership (NPSF-AHA).
She currently serves on the Board of Directors for APSF, FAER, and for the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) as its Past President.
6:00 – 9:00 PM
Mid-Conference Reception
6:00 – 7:30 AM
Full Buffet Breakfast and Networking
Session 6: Collaborating for Success
7:30 – 9:05 AM
Introductions
How anesthesiologists can move the needle
Click to Watch the Presentation
Brian Bateman, MD
Anesthesiology, Preoperative and Pain Medicine Endowed Professor,
Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine,
Stanford University
Brian T. Bateman is the Anesthesiology, Preoperative and Pain Medicine Endowed Professor and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine. In this capacity, he oversees the clinical, educational, and research operations for a department with over 300 faculty and 150 trainees.
Before coming to Stanford, Bateman served as the Vice Chair for Faculty Development and Chief of the Division of Obstetric Anesthesia in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School and as Co-Director of the Harvard Program on Perinatal and Pediatric Pharmacoepidemiology in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Bateman’s scholarship focuses on the study of medication safety in pregnancy and on predictors and management of maternal morbidity. To address questions in these areas, Bateman and collaborators at Harvard helped pioneer the use of advanced epidemiological techniques applied to large, routinely collected healthcare utilization data. This research has been funded by multiple R01 grants from the NIH and by grants from the FDA and has been published in leading clinical journals including NEJM, JAMA, BMJ, Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA Pediatrics, JAMA Psychiatry, and Obstetrics and Gynecology. Bateman’s bibliography contains over 300 publications. This research is frequently cited in clinical reviews and guidelines and has prompted both the FDA and EMA to make labelling changes to medications regarding use in pregnancy. Bateman is also a founding member of the International Pregnancy Safety Study Consortium (InPress) which is a collaborative effort between investigators from the US and each of the five Nordic countries to pool data for studies evaluating the safety of medications.
Bateman currently serves as Chairperson of FDA’s Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee after having previously served a 4-year term (2015-2019) as a voting member of this Committee. He was a technical advisor for the revision of the Joint Commission’s pain management standards. He has served on expert panels and workshops sponsored by the National Academy of Medicine, the FDA, the NIH, the CDC, and the Department of Health and Human Services, and on multiple grant review committees for the NIH and other funders. He is an Editor for the journal, Anesthesiology, and the textbook, Chestnut’s Obstetric Anesthesia: Principles and Practice.
Bateman’s work has been recognized by a number of awards including his selection by the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology as the Gerard Ostheimer lecturer and by the American Society of Anesthesiologists as the James E. Cottrell Presidential Scholar Awardee, which is given to one clinical-scientist each year within 10 years of initial faculty appointment for accomplishment in research.
Bateman is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate Yale College and received his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, where he was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha and was awarded the Janeway Prize for the highest achievements and abilities in the graduating class. He completed an internship in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and residency and chief residency in anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He completed a Masters in Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, and a Masters in Business Administration from Imperial College London.
Coordinating in the community to decrease serious postpartum morbidity
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Melissa Bauer, DO
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Population Health Sciences,
Duke University Medical Center
Melissa Bauer is dual fellowship trained in critical care and obstetric anesthesiology and an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Population Health Sciences at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Bauer is independently funded by the National Institutes of Health (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development) to work to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity from maternal sepsis. Her research is centered on the early identification and treatment of maternal sepsis and using patient and community engagement to improve maternal care.
How a community practice has implemented bundles for improved OB quality metrics
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Megan Rosenstein, MD, MBA, FASA
Associate Chief Medical Officer,
Director of Obstetric Anesthesia,
Overlook Medical Center, Summit, NJ
Meg Rosenstein, MD is the Associate Chief Medical Officer and Director of Obstetric Anesthesia at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, New Jersey. She joined the medical staff in 2009 following training at NYP Weill Cornell Medical Center. Meg has a passion for health equity and improving birth outcomes for all women and their babies. Aligned with these goals, she sits on the Board of Directors for the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology. Meg is a proud mom of three boys, loves time spent outdoors, and travelling with her family.
Two sides of the coin – Enhancing Maternal and Pediatric Anesthesia Safety in Japan
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Yasuko Nagasaka, MD, PhD
Chair, Professor in Anesthesia,
Tokyo Women’s Medical University
I am a Japanese and US board-certified anesthesiologist.
After obtaining board in Internal Medicine, I have completed anesthesia residency in Japan then the US anesthesia residency followed by adult cardiothoracic anesthesia fellowship both at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
My clinical research topics are: human protein haptoglobin for acute kidney injury in patients undergoing open-heart surgeries on cardiopulmonary bypass, EEG monitoring during general anesthesia and postoperative delirium/agitation in children, and postpartum depression in association with labor epidurals.
My basic/translational research topic is: nitric oxide-derived hypotension by general anesthesia and its downstream mechanisms.
In 1994, I graduated Tokyo Women’s Medical College now University in Japan. After the training in Internal Medicine (1997), and in Anesthesiology (2003) both at St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo, I started my research career and became the Research Fellow and PhD candidate in the Department of Anesthesia, Tokyo Women’s Medical University in 2003. In 2005, I became Dr. Warren M. Zapol, and Dr. Kenneth D. Bloch’s research fellow at
Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and became a staff member (Instructor in Anesthesia) thereafter. In 2010, I started my clinical training in the US, Categorical Intern in Medicine (transitional year), Department of Medicine, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Tufts University School of Medicine, Newton, MA. I completed residency in Anesthesiology (06/2012-09/2014), and Cardiothoracic Anesthesia Fellow (2014-2015), in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. I stayed at MGH as a staff for 6 months (Instructor in Anesthesia), then came back to Japan in 2016, to chair the Department of Anesthesia at St. Luke’s International Hospital (2016-2020).
I took the chair position and became professor of the Department of Anesthesia at Tokyo Women’s Medical University (2020- current). I serve as an associate editor of the journals Anesthesia and Analgesia, BMC Anesthesiology, and Korean Journal of Anesthesiology.
Despite increasing administrative responsibilities, I remain actively engaged in cardiac anesthesiology, education, and advancing scientific research.
Q&A Speakers
Session 7: Breakout Groups
9:05 – 10:05 AM
Introduction and Breakout Groups
Change management: where can we collaborate for maximum impact?
Della Lin, MS, MD, FASA
Della Lin, MS, MD, FASA is an inaugural National Patient Safety Foundation/Health Forums Patient Safety Leadership Fellow (2002). She is faculty and fellow with the Institute for Health Care Improvement (IHI), is a Global Salzburg Fellow and holds an Associate Faculty appointment with Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Lin also holds an appointment with the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Honolulu, Hawaii and has previously been Visiting Faculty with the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality and a longstanding Senior Fellow in Patient Safety Leadership with the Estes Park Institute.
Lin facilitates multi-stakeholder groups to challenge and better the status quo of patient care systems through shared goals of improving safety culture, effective leadership and building sustainable solutions from the ground level. In that work, she has been part of the national AHRQ team implementing Improving Surgical Care and Recovery (ISCR) and leads her state’s Hawaii Safer Care collaborative. She is noted for her speaking through an engaging balance of science and storytelling.
Lin continues an active practice in anesthesiology in Hawaii, receiving her training from the University of California, San Diego.
10:05 – 11:05 AM
Sharing From Groups
Della Lin, MS, MD, FASA
11:05 – 11:15 AM
Conference Wrap-Up
Meghan Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP, FCCM
May Pian-Smith, MD, MS
