The Twenty-Ninth Peter and Eva Safar Annual Lectureship in
Medical Sciences and Humanities
and
The 7th Safar Symposium...

The Annual Safar Symposium will be held on
Wednesday, May 6, 2009, on the University of Pittsburgh campus and will be linked, for the first time, to Anesthesiology Research Day on Tuesday, May 5, 2009.

This event will mark the 30th anniversary of the Safar Center and feature some of the most successful graduates of the Safar Center training program.

The symposium will once again include the 29th Peter & Eva Safar Annual Lectureship in Medical Sciences and Humanities at noon. The Safar Lecture will be delivered by former fellow Dr. Fritz Sterz (pictured) from the Medical University of Vienna who led the landmark European multicenter hypothermia trial in cardiac arrest.

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Neurointensive Care and Resuscitation Research Journal Club

Vienna Renames A Street In Honor Of Dr. Peter Safar

Vienna (Austria) city government has named the street in front of a training center “Safargasse" in honor of the late Dr. Peter Safar.  Preparations for an opening are underway.  This is a great message for the medical and ambulance community to have a street named after someone who has devoted his life to saving lives.

Guest Professor Sujatha Kannan, MD visits the Safar Center

Guest Professor Sujatha Kannan, MD visits the Safar Center Sujatha Kannan, MD Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University visited the Safar Center on March 11, 2008. She gave a lecture titled “PET Imaging and Nanotherapeutic Options in Perinatal Brain Injury” to an audience of researchers, faculty, fellows and students. The next day, SCRR trainees presented their work to Dr. Kannan in a reverse site visit fashion. Presenters included: Karen Walson, MD—Oxidative Stress in Experimental Asphyxia; Tomas Drabek, MD—Emergency Preservation and Resuscitation: The Effect of Hypothermia and Minocycline on Outcome after Prolonged Cardiac Arrest in Rats; Mioara Manole, MD—Cerebral Blood Flow after Asphyxial Cardiac Arrest in Immature Rats; and Jennifer Exo, MD—Nitroxide-Based Resuscitation of Combined Traumatic Brain Injury and Hemorrhagic Shock: Effects on Acute Hemodynamics.

Michael J. Bell, MD accepts position as Associate Director, Pediatric Neurointensive Care at the Safar Center

Dr. Michael Bell accepted the nomination of Associate Director, Pediatric Neurointensive Care on April 10, 2008. Mike joins a group of diversely talented faculty and I’m sure he will contribute his unique qualities to better serve the mission of the Safar Center.

Anthony E. Kline, PhD, promoted to Associate Professor, PM&R

In July 2008, Dr. Anthony Kline was promoted to Associate Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Kline is also Associate Director of Rehabilitation Research at the Safar Center. Also, one of Dr. Kline’s laboratory technicians, Annie Hoffman, recently left the Safar Center to commence graduate school at Arizona State University in behavioral neuroscience.

Wagner team wins award 2nd year in a row—Undergrad student Rashed Harun awarded the Bradler Award in Neuroscience

Rashed Harun (pictured, center), a graduating senior who has worked with Amy Wagner, MD, (pictured, left—Safar Center Associate Director, Physical Medical and Rehabilitation) for 3 years, was awarded the Bradler Award in Neuroscience 2008. This award is given to students who have excelled academically and whose research experiences have shaped their future career plans. Rashed is planning on pursuing a PhD with Dr. Wagner through the CNUP program at the University of Pittsburgh. Of note, another one Dr. Wagner’s students won this prestigious award in 2007. Also pictured (right) is Alan F. Sved, PhD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Neuroscience.

Mioara Manole, MD K award funded

Former T-32 fellow, Dr. Manole, is the recipient of a Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award from the National Institutes of Health in August 2008. Dr. Manole is studying the cerebral blood flow response to asphyxial cardiac arrest in a developing (post-natal day 17) rat model. In this model she seeks to determine the relationship between cerebral blood flow, cerebral metabolism and neuropathological damage and to quantify production of reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, and other reactive nitrogen species after progressively longer durations of asphyxial cardiac arrest. Her research involves collaboration between the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research and at the NMR Center for Biomedical Research, under the mentorship of Drs. Clark, Kochanek, Ho and Hitchens.

Tomas Drabek, MD to present at the 2009 Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting

Dr. Thomas Drabek has been invited to give a lecture at the 2009 Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists annual meeting to be held in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Drabek will be presenting his lecture “Cerebral Resuscitation in the Laboratory: Progress and Future Directions for the session “The Experimental Bypass Laboratory: Answering Old and Asking New Questions.”

50th Anniversary celebration of the Multidisciplinary ICU started by Dr. Peter Safar at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center

On September 26, 2008, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (formerly known at Baltimore City Hospitals) hosted an historic meeting “Celebrating 50 Years: The Gold Standard in Multidisciplinary and Intensive Care.” The celebration honored the late Peter Safar, MD, former Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, who opened the first ICU at Baltimore City Hospitals on July 14, 1958. (http://www.hopkinsbayview.org/icu50th/history.html) The day’s program included lectures by Drs. Max Harry Weil, Mitchell M. Levy, Myron Weisfeldt, among others including Dr. Patrick Kochanek, Director of the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research who spoke on Resuscitation Research. The keynote lecture was given by Dr. Joseph Parrillo who spoke on Septic Shock: New Insights, New Therapies. Following the conference, there was a “Safar Papers Dedication” in the Bayview Library which featured a number of speakers and the installment of Dr. Safar’s collection of works in the library collection.

Safar Center honored at Pitt’s 4th Annual Celebration of Innovation

On October 6, 2008, the University of Pittsburgh hosted the 4th Annual Celebration of Innovation 2008 honoring Pitt innovators. Among recipients were Drs. Patrick Kochanek, Samuel Tisherman, Xianren Wu, and Mr. William Stezoski, from the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, who were recognized for their work on Emergency Preservation and Resuscitation.

Dr. Kochanek receives AAP Distinguished Career Award

During the 2008 American Academy of Pediatrics conference, held in Boston on October 12, 2008, Dr. Patrick Kochanek received Distinguished Career Award from the AAP Section of Critical Care. The award recognizes career achievement in the field of critical care. Dr. Kochanek is the 14th recipient.

Benjamin Wells de Witt awarded Stephen Phillips Award for Outstanding Research Accomplished during the Dean’s Summer Research Program for Medical Students

Wells de Witt, who worked with Dr. Anthony E. Kline (Physical Medical & Rehabilitation, Psychology, Center for Neuroscience, and Safar Center Associate Director) over the summer was awarded the Stephen Phillips Award for his work in the Dean’s Summer Research Program. The title of Wells’ project was “A rehabilitation-relevant enrichment paradigm confers motor recovery after experimental traumatic brain injury.” Wells will also present his work at the 6th Annual American Medical Association – Medical Student Section Research Poster Symposium to be held in Orlando, FL this November.

Manuella Lahoud-Rahme, MD receives Young Investigator Award from AHA Resuscitation Research Symposium

Dr. Manuella Lahoud-Rahme will receive the Young Investigator Award for her abstract presentation titled "Blood Brain Barrier Integrity in Emergency Preservation and Resuscitation Rat Model" during the 6th Annual Resuscitation Science Symposium to be held in New Orleans, November 8-9, 2008. This award recognizes the top scoring abstracts submitted by early career investigators in cardiac and trauma resuscitation science.

View News Archive

Dr. Safar's Memoirs "From Vienna to Pittsburgh for Anesthesiology and Acute Medicine. Careers in Anesthesiology (Volume V) " published by the ASA's Wood Library Museum available here.

Peter Safar (1924 - 2003) Father of CPR,
Distinguished Service Professor