Ray joined the Safar Center in 1995 and retired from the University of Pittsburgh in 2008.

Undergraduate trainees Ann Robles and Andrew Victoria will be supported by NINDS for the next 1.5 years to continue their research and career development at the Safar Center.

We are grateful they took time out of their busy schedule to visit, lecture, and meet with our T32 and other trainees.

A hearty congratulations to both Cait and Jeremy!

On January 12, 2023, WQED premiered a 30-minute documentary on Pittsburgh’s own Freedom House Ambulance service—a first of its kind in the country.

Eleni H. Moschonas B.S., B.A., awarded a Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) 2023 Dissertation Grant

Drs. Dennis Simon, Robert Clark, and Michael Morowitz received a multi-PI R01 award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

T32 fellow Dr. Caitlin McNamara was awarded the Fellow Travel Award for the Pediatric Neurocritical Care Research Group (PNCRG) Fall Conference.

Three faculty have joined the team of Associate Directors of the Safar Center.

Jessica Jarvis has received a K23 career development award from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Nahmah Kim-Campbell, MD, MS was awarded an R21 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Shaun Carlson, Ph.D. was awarded his first R01 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

During the 39th Annual National Neurotrauma Symposium held in June in Atlanta, GA, Safar Center Associate Director Dr. Corina Bondi was awarded the 2022 Rosalind Franklin Award

The 19th Annual Safar Symposium, held as a hybrid event on May 26-27, 2021, introduced attendees to Freedom House 2.0

Here are some highlights from the 19th Annual Safar Symposium

This year’s symposium marked a special research event for the Ranellone twins, Nicholas and Tyler.

Summer ’22 started in full-force for Safar Center trainees in the laboratories of Drs. Corina Bondi and Anthony Kline.

Safar Center director Patrick M. Kochanek, MD, MCCM was the lead author of a report on the results of the Approaches and Decisions for Acute Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury Trial (ADAPT)

Abstract submission deadline is 5pm on Thursday, April 7, 2021.

Acute Brain Care: Bringing the Future to the Bedside

Two-year research fellowship positions focused on career development in the area of pediatric neurointensive care are anticipated for physicians who have completed at least two years of clinical fellowship training in pediatric critical care medicine.

Jeremy Herrmann, MD was awarded a two-year grant from the Zoll Foundation to study the response and efficacy of acute administration of the novel neuroprotective cold stress hormone Fibroblast Growth Factor 21.

The Collaboration Award recognizes individuals who have advanced the Institute’s mission through successful collaboration with partners across NICHD or outside the Institute.

Rachel Berger, MD, MPH, and her team have developed an EHR-embedded child abuse clinical decision support (CA-CDS) system which helps medical providers identify, evaluate and report suspected child maltreatment.

This summer has been extremely busy and rewarding for Safar Center trainees in the laboratories of Drs. Corina Bondi and Anthony Kline.

A hearty congratulations to these trainees and to Dr. Wagner and her entire research team for representing the Safar Center at the highest possible level.

We are pleased to announce that our longstanding T32 titled “Training in Pediatric Neurointensive Care and Resuscitation Research” was competitively renewed for another five years.

Two new postdoctoral fellows were selected for support this year by our NICHD-funded Training in Pediatric Neurointensive Care and Resuscitation Research T32 program.

On July 27, 2021, The Safar Center held its annual Student Research Day, featuring presentations by summer students working at the Safar Center.

Safar Center T32 graduate was awarded an R21 from NINDS to study early mortality due to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)

The Safar Center is pleased to announce the 41st Peter and Eva Safar Annual Lectureship in Medical Sciences and Humanities, Dr. Geoffrey Ling.

The latest episode of the UPMC Physician Journal features a story about the severe traumatic brain injury and neurocritical care programs at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and their links to the work at the Safar Center.

Safar Center investigators have been awarded a five-year, $3.1 million R01 grant entitled “Bio-digital Rapid Alert to Identify Neuromorbidity (BRAIN)” from the National Institute of Neurologic Diseases and Stroke (NINDS).

Dr. Anthony E. Kline was awarded an R01 grant to study the efficacy of human neural stem cells on motor, cognitive, and affective outcomes after controlled cortical impact injury in adult rats of both sexes.

Safar Center Associate Director Dr. Anthony E. Kline awarded a competitive renewal R01 from the NIH/NINDS to continue studies of environmental enrichment after traumatic brain injury

The 18th Safar Symposium on May 19th and 20th held virtually for the first time, was a record-breaking event with over 360 registrants. In addition, attendees from 20 countries participated.

Dr. Raj Aneja will lead a team of investigators to determine if sepsis-mediated toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4) activation upregulates the Sur1-Trpm4 channel leading to sepsis-induced brain edema and axonal swelling.

Anecdotally, many pediatric clinicians noted a sharp drop-off in the number of admitted children after COVID-19 and associated social distancing began. Several of us began to note aloud "wow, it's like bronchiolitis and asthma just went away." Inspired by that...

Three projects were selected including studies by two young investigators.

Congratulations to both Ben Zusman and Ericka Fink for these outstanding accomplishments!

The Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award (R37) is a conditional seven-year research grant given to scientists selected by the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council.

Preliminary Virtual Program

Jessica Jarvis, PhD received one of the six Pediatric Critical Care Medicine research awards at the virtual World Federation Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies (WFPICCS) congress.

The consortium seeks to classify what kinds of neurological symptoms and conditions occurred in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and to determine their prevalence.

One-third or more of adults with COVID-19 showed neurological manifestations on presentation and/or during hospital admission, with many experiencing post-discharge adverse cognitive and emotional health outcomes.

The S. William Stezoski Award is an annual award presented to the top technician at the Center, as voted by the Safar Center Associate Directors.

Henry Alexander was selected unanimously by the Associate Directors of the Center to be the inaugural recipient of the S. William Stezoski Award for Technician Excellence.

Hülya Bayır, MD received U01 funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to combat multi-system effects of ionizing radiation.

Medical Scientist Training Program student Andrew Lamade, PhD successfully defended his thesis.

Nahmah Kim-Campbell, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Critical Care Medicine, was awarded a K23 grant.

Corina Bondi, Ph.D., was awarded a R01 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

The 2020 Nancy Caroline Fellow Award as the top trainee working at the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research was received by Jessica Jarvis, PhD.

Christopher Horvat, MD, MHA, was awarded a K23 grant entitled, “A Learning Health System Approach to Precision Sedation and Analgesia in Critically Ill Children”

In October 2019, Dr. Patrick M. Kochanek was appointed to the faculty rank of Distinguished Professor of Critical Care Medicine in the School of Medicine.

In January 2020, Dr. Kochanek presented at the International Workshop on Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury that was held in Bergamo and Brescia Italy.

Sherry Chou, MD, MMSc, was been selected to receive the Neurocritical Care Society’s 2019 Investing in Clinical Neurocritical Care Research (INCLINE) Grant.

Elizabeth Kenny received the 2020 O’Malley Award for 5 years of excellence in Basic Science Research for her Longitudinal Research Project in the Physician Scientist Training Program.

Assistant professor of Critical Care Medicine, Dennis Simon, MD was awarded an R21 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

On November 22, 2019, Dr. Kochanek was invited to a symposium honoring the 10 year anniversary of the prestigious STAR Center at Maryland Shock Trauma.

This year, we once again had a very competitive number of proposals submitted for funding from the Reback Family gift supporting research targeting the development of new therapies for hypoxic brain injury.

The 17th Annual Safar Symposium took place on April 22nd and 23rd this year, and was an outstanding success, and one the most well attended in the event’s history.

Safar Center Faculty members, Ruchira Jha MD, and Shaun Carlson, PhD, have been awarded grants by the Chuck Noll Foundation for Brain Injury Research.

Safar Center Associate Director Sherry Chou, PhD, just received a notice of award for her new R21 grant, titled “MicroRNA Endotypes of Systemic Inflammation in Sub-Arachnoid hemorrhaGE (MESSAGE).”

Ihuoma Njoku was recently awarded the Bert and Sally O’Malley Award for outstanding medical students at the 2019 Pitt Medical School Scholars Day.

Onome Oghifobibi, MD, a second-year fellow received the Diversity in the Research Workforce Travel Award from the Society for Pediatric Research.

We are pleased to announce that in June, Michael Wolf, MD, and Alicia Alcamo, MD, graduated from the Safar Center’s Pediatric Neurointensive Care and Resuscitation Research FellowshipT32 program.

Safar Center Scientist, Cameron Dezfulian, MD, in collaboration with William Clark, PhD, awarded $50,000 for pediatric development of their innovative new intravenous catheter called the ThreadRite IV.

Safar Center Associate Director Corina Bondi, PhD, was recently elected as a Fellow of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society.

Safar Center Associate Director, Rachel Berger, MD, was recently elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI).

Former Safar Center T32 Fellow Jessica Wallisch, MD, was recently featured as the Early Career Investigator for the month of March in the journal Pediatric Research.

Dr. Patrick Kochanek was honored to be one of the distinguished speakers, amongst several prestigious lecturers commemorating the 125th year of institution.

On December 12th, visiting professor Dr. Sapna Kudchadkar presented Grand Rounds to the Department of Critical Care. Her lecture was titled “Illness Doesn’t Mean Stillness: Creating a Culture of Mobility for Critically Ill Children.”

The past year was extremely productive for Safar Center investigators. In 2018, over 70 articles were published by our faculty and trainees.

This year, the International Neurotrauma Society (INTS) Symposium was held in Toronto, Canada on August 11th-16th.

Safar Center Scientist Dr. Cameron Dezfulian was recently elected as a Fellow of the American Heart Association (AHA).

An abstract submitted by Pitt medical student Maria Lanyi to the Dean’s Summer Research Program (DSRP) was recently awarded a Certificate of Merit Award.

This year, the Safar Center hosted two outstanding students from the University of Bath, Tim Craine and Marcus Hook.

2018 marked the 16th year of the Safar Symposium, which took place on May 31st and June 1st.

The Safar Center for Resuscitation Research was recently gifted an endowment made in memory of Mr. Lloyd Reback.

Safar Center Associate Director Dr. Amy Wagner was recently awarded a number of new grants.

Safar Center Scientist, Dr. Alicia Au, was recently awarded a Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from the National Institute of Health.

Dr. Amery Treble-Barna was selected for the Clinical and Translational Science (CTS) Scholars Program (KL2).

The annual the Safar Center Student Research Day took place on July 17th this year, and featured presentations from thirteen young trainees ranging from undergraduates to postdoctoral fellows.

Research Assistant Professor Travis C. Jackson, in the Department of Critical Care Medicine, has received a new R01 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Safar Center Researcher Dr. Chris Horvat was recently awarded the Children’s Trust Grant from the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

Drs. Corina O. Bondi (Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Neurobiology, and Safar Center Associate Director) and Anthony E. Kline (Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Psychology, Critical Care Medicine, Center for...

Katelyn Even, MD, a Pediatric Critical Care Fellow at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, gave a lecture at the 13th Annual Child Maltreatment Conference on April 26-27, 2018.

In the winter of 2016, the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research donated Dr. Peter Safar’s papers to the University of Pittsburgh’s Archives and Special Collections.

Andrew Lamade, a Safar Center trainee, has recently been awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual National Research Service Award Fellowship for MD/PhD students.

Amery Treble-Barna, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research T32 program, was awarded the University of Pittsburgh/UPMC Rehabilitation Institute Pilot Grant Funding award.

Safar Center Associate Director Robert Clark, MD, was recently awarded the CHP-endowed Chair in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.

University of Utah School of Medicine Vice Dean for Research and Professor of Pediatrics, J. Michael Dean, MD, MBA, recently visited the Safar Center as a guest professor.

The Chuck Noll Foundation for Brain Injury Research awarded one of its five inaugural grants to Safar Center Associate Director Dr. C. Edward Dixon.

The work of two Safar Center researchers was recognized at the 47th Annual Congress of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, which took place in San Antonio, Texas, from March 25th to March 28th this year.

Kristen Milleville won the best paper competition for medical students at the 2018 Association of American Physiatrists (AAP) Annual Meeting.

After 18 highly productive years at the University of Pittsburgh, Safar Center research scientist Dr. Lina Du retired at the end of January.

Dr. Hülya Bayır was recently awarded the University of Pittsburgh’s 2018 Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award.

A collaborative team of investigators from the Safar Center, were recently funded by the state of Pennsylvania for research targeting the development of new therapies for traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Safar Center Associate Director Dr. Rachel Berger was recently featured in a lead article in the New York Times Magazine.

Linda Ryan, research administrator and senior administrative staff member of the Safar Center, was recognized at the Staff Recognition Ceremony for 30 years of service.

Jason Stezoski, a senior research technician in the Safar Center labs, was recognized at the Annual Staff Recognition Ceremony for 20 years of service.

Safar Center Associate Director Dr. Hulya Bayir co-authored two important manuscripts in the October 2017 issue of the prestigious journal Cell.

Safar Center associate director, Dr. Amy Wagner, was recently promoted to the position of full professor in the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R).

Dr. Patrick Kochanek was recently awarded a three year contract for a pre-clinical study titled “Evaluation of Neurotherapeutic Resuscitation Strategies in Polytrauma associated with Traumatic Brain Injury.”

The Cohen Veterans Care Summit, “Spark a Care Revolution” took place on September 27th, and 28th in the Ronal Reagan Building in Washington D.C.

Solomon M. Adams, PharmD, a TL-1 Post-Doctoral scholar, recently authored a review in the journal Pharmacogenomics.

Shaun A. Carlson, Ph.D., who has worked as a postdoctoral fellow with C. Edward Dixon, Ph.D. since 2013, has been promoted to the rank of Research Assistant Professor.

Recently, a significant study authored by Safar Center researchers Dr. Bob Clark, Dr. Philip Empey, and others, was published in the Journal PLOS One.

Dr. Christopher Horvat, one of the Safar Center’s T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellows, recently published an article titled “ABCB1 Genotype is Associated with Fentanyl Requirements in Critically Ill Children”.

Ruchira M. Jha, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Critical Care Medicine, Neurology and Neurological Surgery has been awarded a UPP Foundation Grant.

The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) annual meeting is the world’s largest neuroscience conference devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system.

Four undergraduate students received full travel awards to present their scientific work at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science.

Dr. Hülya Bayır, Associate Director of Safar Center was awarded with the prestigious Society for Free Radical Research-Europe Clinical Award Lecture.

Several Safar Center faculty members were honored at this year’s National Neurotrauma Meeting, which was held in Snowbird, Utah.

Every year, the Safar Center holds a Student Research Day, which gives students and young researchers the opportunity to present their summer projects and findings.

This year, the 15th Annual Safar Symposium took place on May 22nd and 23rd in the Rangos Research Center at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

Safar Center investigator Dr. Ruchira Jha, Assistant Professor of Critical Care Medicine, just received a K23 award from NINDS.

Anthony Kline, PhD, Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Associate Director of the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research, recently received a notification that his R21 grant.

Congratulations are in order for several young Safar Center trainees mentored by Anthony E. Kline, PhD.

Dr. Christopher Horvat, one of the Safar Center’s T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellows, recently published an article titled “ABCB1 Genotype is Associated with Fentanyl Requirements in Critically Ill Children”.

Safar Center Associate Director Dr. Rachel Berger, and a team of colleagues developed a serum-based blood test to detect abusive head trauma (AHT) in infants.

After more than 30 years at the Hill Building in Oakland, the Safar Center for Resuscitation has moved to a beautiful new home at the John G. Rangos Research Center at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Safar Center Associate Director Dr. Ericka Fink led an international multi-center group of investigators to carry out the first point-prevalence study of neurological diseases in infants and children.

Dr. Naima Lajud Avila, a visiting scholar to Dr. Anthony Kline’s lab, recently presented the first lecture of the Resuscitation and Neurocritical Care Research lecture series for the 2016-2017 academic year.

The Safar Center for Resuscitation Research’s new home at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is now one step closer.

The Approaches and Decisions for Acute Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury (ADAPT) Trial led by Drs. Michael Bell, at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and Stephen Wisniewski in the Graduate School of Public Health.

Safar Center Associate Director Dr. Anthony Kline was recently promoted to the title of full Professor in the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Recently, Safar Center Associate Director Dr. Rachel Berger and colleagues published an article in the journal Pediatrics, validating the Pittsburgh Infant Brain Injury Score (PIBIS).

Drs. Anthony E. Kline and Corina O. Bondi organized a symposium for the 25th Annual International Behavioral Neuroscience Society meeting in Budapest.

Undergraduate Neuroscience student Hannah Radabaugh, who is training with Dr. Anthony E. Kline, received a Neuroscience Research Excellence Award for 2016.

The 45th Society of Critical Care Congress was held in Orlando, Florida on February 20th-24th. Several Safar Center trainees won prestigious awards at the event.

The Approaches and Decisions for Acute Pediatric TBI (ADAPT) Trial has enrolled its 700th subject!

Safar Center Faculty members Drs. Patrick Kochanek and Michael Bell were featured speakers at the 12th Annual International Neurotrauma Society Symposium that took place in Cape Town, South Africa.

Safar Center Nursing PhD Student and Neurosurgery Researcher Nicole Osier BSN, BS,RN was recently selected to represent her school, as a Rising Star of Research and Scholarship.

Safar Center collaborator Dr. Milos Ikonomovic will soon begin a fascinating new project funded by a grant from the Veterans Administration.

On December 8, Safar Center Administrative Secretary Fran Mistrick was honored in a special ceremony held in recognition of long serving staff at the University of Pittsburgh.

Corina Bondi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor was awarded a Young Investigator Travel Bursary to attend the 22nd World Congress of Neurology.