Society for Pediatric Anesthesia
We make anesthesia for children safer

FAER (Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research) is accepting applications for its latest grant cycle from December 1, 2022 through Feburary 15, 2023.  Learn more & apply at FAER.org/Grants.

 

Overall Grant Cycle
Longform
Applications to the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research’s (FAER’s) Spring 2023 Grant Cycle are open December 1, 2022, through February 15, 2023! Available grants include the Mentored Research Training Grant, Research in Education Grant, and Research Fellowship Grant, as well as the co-sponsored APSF-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant and FAER-ABA Research in Education Grant. FAER is also honored to partner with the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) to offer the first ever SOAP-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant. Learn more and apply at FAER.org/Grants!

Condensed
Applications to the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research’s (FAER’s) Spring 2023 Grant Cycle open December 1, 2022. Learn more about available grants and apply at FAER.org/Grants!

 

APSF-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant
Longform
Letter of Intent Submissions for the APSF-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG) are open December 1, 2022, through January 1, 2023! Co-sponsored by the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) and Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER), this two-year, $300,000 award helps anesthesiologists develop the skills and preliminary data they need to become independent investigators in the field of anesthesia patient safety. Eligible to anesthesiologist faculty members who are within 10 years of their first faculty appointment, learn more on FAER’s website!

Condensed
Letter of Intent submissions for the APSF-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant are open December 1, 2022, through January 1, 2023! This two-year, $300,000 award helps anesthesiologists develop the skills and preliminary data they need to become independent investigators in the field of anesthesia patient safety. Learn more on FAER’s website!

FAER-ABA Research in Education Grant
Longform
Letter of Intent submissions for the FAER-ABA Research in Education Grant are open December 1 through December 31, 2022! Co-sponsored by the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) and American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), this two-year, $100,000 award advances the knowledge of anesthesiologists interested in the key elements of education in anesthesiology – curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Eligible to anesthesiologist faculty members of any rank, learn more on FAER’s website!

Condensed
Letter of Intent submissions for the FAER-ABA Research in Education Grant are open December 1 through December 31, 2022! This two-year, $100,000 award advances the knowledge of anesthesiologists interested in the key elements of education in anesthesiology – curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Learn more on FAER’s website!

Following the SPA Board of Directors election, we are honored to provide the list of incoming Officers and Directors, recognize the continuing Officers, Directors, and Section Presidents, and thank the outgoing Officers and Directors.

The official change in leadership will occur at the SPA Annual Meeting on Friday, October 21, 2022, in New Orleans.

And congratulations to our three member voters whose names were drawn to receive free SPA-AAP Pediatric Anesthesiology meeting registration (or the cash equivalent): Wenyu Bai, MD (University of Michigan), Brandon Kibby, DO, MBA, FASA (Dayton Children’s Hospital), and Michelle Rovner, MD (Medical University of South Carolina).

Incoming Officers
Congratulations to our incoming President!
Jim Fehr, MD

 

 

Congratulations to our incoming Secretary-Treasurer!
John Fiadjoe, MD

 

 

New Directors-At-Large

 

Aditee Ambardekar, MD

 

 

Jamie McElrath Schwartz, MD

 

 

Jina Sinskey, MD

 

 

Emmett E. Whitaker, MD

 

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Thank you for your service as SPA President!

Nina Deutsch, MD

 

 

Outgoing Directors-At-Large
Thank you for your service.

Tarun Bhalla, MD, MBA

 

 

 

Faye Evans, MD

 

 

 

Toyin Olutoye, MD, M.SC

 

 

 

Lawrence I. Schwartz, MD

 

 

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The following will continue on the SPA Board of Directors:

Peggy P. McNaull, MD
Vice President/President-Elect

Sean Barnes, MD
Director

Melissa L. Brooks Peterson, MD
Director

Christina D. Diaz, MD, FASA, FAAP
Director

Vidya T. Raman, MD
Director

Mark D. Twite, MD, BCh
CCAS President

Robert T. Wilder, MD, PhD
SPPM President

Thomas J. Long, MD, FAAP
PALC President

Concetta Lupa, MD
PAPDA President

Ex-Officio Members

Mary F. Landrigan-Ossar, MD, PhD
Chair, AAP Section on Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

Sulpicio G. Soriano III, MD
Chair, ASA Committee on Pediatric Anesthesia (COPA)

Travis L. Reece-Nguyen, MD
Chair, SPA Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

David W. Buck, MD
President, Wake Up Safe

Lynn A. Correll, MD, PhD, FASA, FAAP, ABOIM
Representative, Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Initiative (WELI)

• If your workshop will require equipment provided in-kind by vendors/commercial supporters – please confirm with vendors that they are willing to provide/ship the equipment prior to submitting your proposal.
• Please list all proposed faculty on your submission; confirm that they are willing to participate prior to submitting your proposal.
• Only SPA members may participate as workshop faculty – SPA will not provide any compensation or reimbursement to non-member faculty for workshops.

• is relevant to the practice of many pediatric anesthesiologists (i.e. not an extremely rare case)
• has controversy and/or decision making that should be discussed/debated
• has some surprises, “twists or turns”
• has well-written objectives that are covered by the discussion
• has well selected references

Leaders of the Texas state government recently issued a letter to its state health agencies announcing that providing gender-affirming medical treatments to transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) youths “constitutes child abuse” under state law. Governor Greg Abbott then stipulated that teachers and health care providers are now legally required to report parents who aid their child in receiving age-appropriate and medically necessary gender-affirming care to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS).

In response, the ACLU, the ACLU of Texas, and Lambda Legal have sued to prevent implementation of these predatory actions. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also issued a statement which indicates that denying TGD youth medically necessary health care is discriminatory and illegal under federal law.  However, health care systems within Texas have “paused” hormone-related therapies for gender-affirming services to protect the families and healthcare professionals who could face the legal ramifications of this order.  Innumerable youth now face the possibility of abrupt cessation of their treatment, and their supportive families and healthcare providers must fear criminal investigation for providing the current standard of care.

These actions are a direct attack on TGD youth, their supportive families, and the entire TGD community that disregard well-established medical research and put the mental health and well-being of these children at stake. This proposed legislation is not an isolated event. So far in 2022, more than a dozen states have introduced legislation seeking to restrict access to and criminalize gender-affirming healthcare. In total, more than 30 states have introduced over 100 pieces of anti-trans legislation already this year, attacking not only healthcare equality, but also TGD youth’s rights to safe and appropriate restrooms and equitable participation in sports. If these discriminatory laws are passed, they will have catastrophic consequences for a vulnerable population that already suffers from higher rates of ​​anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide.

The Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) joins with many other major U.S. medical organizations (e.g. American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Psychological Association, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American College of Physicians, American Academy of Family Physicians) in recognizing that gender-affirming care is life-saving and medically necessary.  The SPA will continue to support the rights of TGD youth and help ensure that they receive the gender-affirming care that they seek.

As perioperative medical professionals and patient safety advocates, we have a duty to protect and care for all vulnerable pediatric populations. TGD youth are under attack across our country and deserve our protection. Now is the time to stand up, make our voices heard, and uphold our ethical standards in the face of injustice.

Specifically, we call on our members to:

• increase their understanding of gender-affirming care for TGD youth
• remain vigilant of the current anti-trans legislative trends, especially legislation specific to their state
• support the efforts of pediatricians and mental health practitioners who provide age-appropriate, gender-affirming care to TGD youth
• ensure equitable access to gender-affirming care, noting that the inability to access such care can result in morbidity and mortality.

SPA has made a $5,000 donation to the National Center for Transgender Equality.  You may also wish to consider a donation to one of the following organizations:

National:
National Center for Transgender Equality
Human Rights Campaign
Lambda Legal

Texas:
Equality Texas
Transgender Education Network of Texas
Texas Freedom Network

As we all watch the horrors that are happening in the Ukraine, we cannot help but see the suffering of families, children, and our medical colleagues there.  There have been so many stories of the heroic efforts of the Ukrainian people as they face an unprovoked war.  Yesterday, we heard of the loss of a Ukrainian Pediatric Anesthesiologist, Dr. Marina Kalabina, who was killed taking a wounded nephew to the hospital.  Thousands of Ukrainian children are also being displaced.

The Society for Pediatric Anesthesia stands with the people of Ukraine and our Ukrainian colleagues as they fight and care for the children there.  We have made a $10,000 donation to UNICEF.  If you would like to donate on your own as well, the following organizations assist in areas of conflict globally, including in the Ukraine.

UNICEF: https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/conflict-ukraine-pose-immediate-threat-children

Save the Children: https://www.savethechildren.org/

International Rescue Committee: https://www.rescue.org/

Global Giving: https://www.globalgiving.org/

World Kitchen: https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine

Okhmatdyt Specialist Pediatric Hospital in Kyiv: https://ohmatdyt.com.ua/ 

International Red Cross: https://www.icrc.org/en/humanitarian-crisis-ukraine