SleepTalker October 2022

Dr. Bennett-Guerrero Receives Senior Research Excellence Award

James P. Dilger, PhD

   Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero been selected as a recipient of the 2022 Senior Research Excellence Award by the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University! The purpose of Faculty Awards such as this is to recognize and reward excellence among faculty in the various mission areas of the medical school. In her letter of notification, Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs Dr. Stella Tsirka wrote "Being considered by your colleagues as deserving of this award is a great professional accomplishment and an indication that you are highly regarded." Congratulations!

   Dr. Bennett-Guerrero is Vice Chair for Clinical Research and Innovation and the Medical Director, Perioperative Quality and Patient Safety in our department. He has been involved in many quality improvement initiatives including VTE, sepsis, mortality, diabetes, NSQIP/ERAS, readmissions, and appropriate coding and documentation of patient risk.

   During the spring 2020 COVID-19 pandemic “surge” in NY, when most clinical research was paused, Dr. Bennett-Guerrero quickly assembled several research teams to address COVID-19 related research questions. One study measured antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in over 450 health care workers (HCW) at Stony Brook. It found that HCW with higher exposure rates were not more likely to have been infected with COVID-19, which suggests that infection of HCW results from exposure in the community rather than at work. Dr. Bennett-Guerrero also developed a multidisciplinary team at Stony Brook involving over 50 researchers including 8 medical students, to collect convalescent plasma in several hundred qualifying donors. and then randomize patients with COVID-19 infection to convalescent plasma or standard plasma. This trial was the first peer reviewed report of convalescent plasma in the United States and was published in the official journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. As part of these efforts, he also led published work assessing neutralizing antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, using the gold standard plaque reduction assay as well as an assay using a pseudovirus. He has authored four peer-reviews publications on his COVID-19 research.

Appointments and Promotions

Sergio D. Bergese, MD, CBA, FASA

     

   I am delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Stephen Probst to the role of Vice Chair of Clinical Operations in the Department of Anesthesiology.

   Dr. Probst received his B.S. in biology/chemistry from Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh, New York, and his M.D. from Stony Brook. He completed a residency program in Anesthesiology at Stony Brook, joining the Department of Anesthesiology as an Assistant Professor in 2008.

   In 2012, Dr. Probst was appointed Division Chief of the Neurosurgical and ENT Anesthesiology. In 2013, he became an Operating Room Clinical Coordinator. During this time, he developed a dedicated cerebrovascular anesthesia team. His leadership and managerial skills led to his recent appointment as the Department of Anesthesiology Director of Clinical Affairs and Associate Director of Perioperative Services.

   I have asked Dr. Sofia Geralemou to serve as an interim Division Chief of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology and Dr. Saleem Zaidi to be Section Chief of the Critical Care ICU.

     

   I have two recent promotions in rank to announce. Dr. Robert P. Moore has been promoted to Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology. Dr. Moore is the Division Chief of Pediatric Anesthesiology. Dr. Ana Costa has been promoted to Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology. Dr. Costa is the Associate Residency Program Director of the department and the Chair of Admissions for the Academy of Clinical and Educational Scholars at the Renaissance School of Medicine.

Dr. Kozlowski Fellowship Match

   Dr. Paul Kozlowski has matched into the pediatric anesthesiology fellowship program at Montefiore.

A Peek Behind the Pub

Eman Nada MBBCH, PhD

   It was a great experience to be part of a group of experts from all over the world to contribute to the International Consensus Statement on Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The group was led by Dr. Cheng an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Chief of the Division of Sleep Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. Authors from 10 countries all over the world, from different medical specialties collaborated to produce the consensus based on the highest evidence.

   I had the pleasure to write the section on preoperative evaluation and diagnosis of sleep apnea using screening tests, appraising the evidence, and whether this impacted the outcome. It was an interesting experience that took 1.5 years of back-and-forth communication and exchanging knowledge.

Chang JL, et al. International consensus statement on obstructive sleep apnea. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2022 Sep 6