Dr. Pat Kochanek requires no introduction after stepping down as Director of the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research in 2025 after serving with aplomb for 31 years, or accolades after taking the helm from Dr. Peter Safar himself, however, one must try. Dr. Kochanek’s first official act as Director was to pay tribute to Dr. Safar by renaming the International Resuscitation Research Center in Peter’s honor. During Dr. Kochanek’s tenure as Director, he carried on Dr. Safar’s legacy of pursuing “breakthroughs, not p-values” and “hearts and brains too good to die.” Of Dr. Kochanek’s 650+ publications, over 100 are related to cardiac arrest and/or resuscitation. It could be argued that Dr. Kochanek transformed the Safar Center into the sine qua non for resuscitation research locally, nationally, and globally. Dr. Kochanek is perhaps most heralded for his research in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Evidence for this includes the fact that Dr. Kochanek was identified by Clarivate (formerly Thompson Reuters) in a ScienceWatch report as the most prolific author in the field of TBI from 2000-2015 (http://sciencewatch.com/articles/special-topic-traumatic-brain-injury). Of these, many are seminal papers focusing on mechanisms of cell death and neuroprotection, bridging experimental models and human TBI, novel therapeutics for treatment of traumatic and ischemic brain injury, and development of clinical biomarkers. It goes without saying that Dr. Kochanek has led the most successful translational acute brain injury program in the world.
In terms of clinical contributions, Dr. Kochanek can be regarded as the most influential contemporary in the field of pediatric critical care medicine, this is not hyperbole. Indeed, he chaired the committee to establish the new critical care program in the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Dr. Kochanek was the Inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the journal Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, a position he led with aplomb for 20 years. Pediatric Critical Care Medicine is highly regarded, considered the major journal for the field, has a large international footprint, and grew in stature, annual volumes, and impact factor under his leadership. Dr. Kochanek is also the pediatric and neurocritical care editor for the Shoemaker Textbook of Critical Care Medicine, the seminal text in the field of critical care medicine, as well as Section Editor or contributor to many highly regarded textbooks in the fields of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Neurological Surgery, Pediatrics, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Kochanek was the lead author of the Guidelines for the Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury in Infants, Children, and Adolescents published by the Brain Trauma Foundation in 2012 and revised in 2019. He is a highly sought after speaker for national and international conferences, symposia, and visiting professorships related to his expertise in pediatrics, critical care medicine, and brain injury. Dr. Kochanek was selected in 2012 as one of the 20 members of the inaugural class of Masters of Critical Care Medicine by the American College of Critical Care Medicine. He was the inaugural recipient of the Vidyasagar Award from the American College of Critical Care Medicine for sustained exemplary and pioneering achievements in the care of critically ill infants and children, and has also received the College’s Distinguished Investigator Award.
As if these qualifications were not enough, Dr. Kochanek is also an exemplary teacher and mentor. He has successfully mentored or co-mentored dozens of fellows, junior faculty members, or PhD candidates who have gone on to receive independent American Heart Association and/or R01 or other R-level NIH funding. Dr. Kochanek is a shining example of multidisciplinary collaboration and team science. He is indeed a generational role model, shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Peter Safar.
Stepping down 31 years after taking over the International Resuscitation Research Center as Director and renaming it in Dr. Safar’s honor, Dr. Kochanek actually did the impossible, he elevated the Center’s local, national, and international scientific impact and reputation to amazing new heights. A tough act to follow for sure.
Robert S. B. Clark, MD
Interim Director