On August 1, 2025, Robert S.B. Clark, MD, FCCM was named interim director of the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research replacing Patrick Kochanek, MD, MCCM, who stepped down as director after serving in that position for 31 years.
Dr. Kochanek followed in the footsteps of CPR pioneer Peter Safar, MD, who directed the Center (formerly known as the International Resuscitation Research Center) from 1980 until 1994. Dr. Clark is Vice Chair of Pediatric Critical Care and Professor of Critical Care Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and a leading investigator in the fields of acute brain injury, resuscitation medicine, and critical care medicine. “Dr. Clark is the perfect person to guide the Center until a new permanent director is chosen” stated Emeritus Director, Dr. Kochanek. “Bob’s long track record of successful NIH funding, exceptional clinical leadership, exemplary publication record, and vast experience with multi-departmental research training and collaboration position him well to maintain the Safar Center’s outstanding reputation for multi-departmental research in acute brain injury and resuscitation science world-wide and advance it even further. “