Scott Hunter

Congratulations to Chris Edwards, M.D., who has been invited to serve as a question author for the American Board of Anesthesiology’s (ABA) MOCA Minute Pediatric Anesthesiology Committee. Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology (MOCA) Minute questions are designed to help anesthesiologists keep up-to-date with changing trends and industry advancements…

Kayser Enneking, M.D., professor of anesthesiology and orthopaedics, was recently honored by UF Women in Medicine and Science (WIMS) for her professional excellence, contribution as a role model, and outstanding leadership. Enneking, who also received the UF College of Medicine’s Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this year,…

Please help us congratulate Patrick Millan, M.D, who was chosen by our residents as the October 2023 Faculty Educator of the Month. Dr. Millan is an assistant professor in the division of Cardiothoracic Anesthesia, and it’s no surprise to see him win this award. He was recently one…

Please help us congratulate our October Resident of the Month, Elaine Kerr, M.D.! Dr. Kerr’s colleagues can’t say enough about what a pleasure she is to work with, both because of her clinical expertise and her personal interactions. Read on for some of her nominations. “Elaine is another…

Congratulations to everyone who was published in October! Published faculty were Doctors Austin, Dooley, Edwards, Fahy, Garvan, Gonzalez, Gravenstein, Jafari, Kumar, Maybauer, Meroney, Modave, Mora, Price, Przkora, Sappenfield, Spiess, and Vasilopoulos. Anesthesiology Vail EA, Feng R, Sieber F, Carson JL, Ellenberg SS, Magaziner J, Dillane D, Marcantonio ER, Sessler DI,…

Shiv Rawal, M.D., joined the department this month as an assistant professor of anesthesiology in the Divisions of Critical Care Medicine and Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology. Rawal earned his medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN, and completed his anesthesiology residency at Barnes Jewish Hospital/Washington University in St. Louis,…

Kathleen McDonald, D.O., M.A., joined the department last month as an assistant professor in the division of Multispecialty Anesthesiology. McDonald earned her medical degree from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, PA, and holds a M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval…

Please help us congratulate Chris Goldstein, M.D, who was chosen by our residents as the September 2023 Faculty Educator of the Month. Dr. Goldstein is affiliated anesthesiology faculty based at the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center. Our residents used words like “compassionate,” “patient,” and “exciting” to describe his work…

Please help us congratulate our September 2023 Resident of the Month, Bobby Houston, M.D.!  Dr. Houston’s colleagues have noted his skill and commitment to teamwork. Read on for some quotes from his nominations. “Bobby has tackled several tough cases with aplomb this rotation. He was always willing to help…

We are pleased to announce that 10 Department of Anesthesiology faculty members have received the Exemplary Teacher Award for 2023. Eligible faculty are nominated from each department and participate in a college-wide competition. Faculty are selected based on the excellence of their teaching of medical students, residents and fellows,…

Abigail Schirmer, M.D., CA-1, who once presented a research poster at the 2016 American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) annual meeting as a University of Florida undergraduate, returned from this year’s conference as president-elect of the ASA Resident Component. Schirmer, who was elected unanimously, is the first female…

The Department of Anesthesiology has begun to integrate hands-on skill labs into Critical Care Medicine (CCM) Grand Rounds. As part of the transition from the purely virtual grand rounds sessions developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, professor of anesthesiology Felipe Urdaneta, M.D., presented the first of a new series of…

Joseph AbuRahma, M.D., joined the department this month as an assistant professor in the Divisions of Cardiothoracic and Liver & Transplant Anesthesiology. AbuRahma earned his medical degree at Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine in Huntington, WV. He then completed both his anesthesiology residency and his cardiothoracic anesthesia…

Congratulations to everyone who was published in September 2023! Published faculty were Doctors Boezaart, Brennan, Chembrovich, Fahy, Garvan, Ihnatsenka, Kumar, Le-Wendling, Pitkin, Przkora, Reina, Reynolds, Robicsek, Sappenfield, Smith, Tighe, Vasilopoulos, and Zasimovich. Advanced Biology Guo X, Akanda N, Fiorino G, Nimbalkar S, Long CJ, Colón A, Patel A,…

Meera Ramsooksingh, M.D., M.S., joined the department this month as an assistant professor in the divisions of neuroanesthesiology and vascular anesthesia. Ramsooksingh received her M.S. in neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh and her medical degree from the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine in Tampa, FL.

The Department of Anesthesiology is proud to announce the formation of the Division of Education Research and Scholarship. The new division will be headed up by associate chair of research François Modave, Ph.D., and associate professor of anesthesiology and orthopaedic surgery & sports medicine Terrie Vasilopoulos, Ph.D. The new…

Please help us congratulate Jordan Phillips, M.D., who was chosen by our residents as the August 2023 Faculty Educator of the Month. Dr. Phillips joined us as an assistant professor in July in the Division of Critical Care Medicine after completing his fellowship with us, so it’s fair to…

Please help us congratulate our August 2023 Resident of the Month, Ryan Belk, D.O.! Dr. Belk’s colleagues have noticed that he’s always stepping up for the team, and they decided a little recognition was long overdue. Read on for some quotes from his nominations. “Dr. Belk is a secret…

Sarah Blake, M.D., joined the department last month as an assistant professor in the Division of Multispecialty Anesthesiology. Blake earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She completed her anesthesiology residency and pain management fellowship, as well as a research fellowship, at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Blake comes…

Congratulations to everyone who was published in August 2023! Published faculty were Doctors Austin, Boezaart, Dooley, Edwards, Enneking, Gonzalez, Gravenstein, Janelle, Maybauer, Nin, Price, Pitkin, Reina, Reynolds, Robicsek, Sullivan, and Wenzel. ASAIO Journal Brewer JM, Broman LM, Maybauer MO. A Plea for Adoption of the Common ECLS…

Interview season for residency programs is coming up, and members of our Resident Recruitment Committee were kind enough to share their insight about preparing for the experience. Read on for their tips, as well as an excerpt from an upcoming Q&A with Tim Martin, M.D., professor of anesthesiology…

The Department of Anesthesiology is excited to welcome Rohan Sarna, M.D., the first fellow of our new Endoscopic Spine Fellowship under the direction of Sanjeev Kumar, M.D. Endoscopic spine surgery is a groundbreaking, minimally invasive technique that can address a wide range of pathologies with only a small…

We’re excited to officially announce our resident committees for the 2023-24 academic year. Our talented residents form these committees to help ensure that everyone in our residency program is getting the very best possible experience. This is also the first year that we have a resident Anesthesia Performance Improvement Committee…

Please help us congratulate the July 2023 Faculty Educator of the Month, assistant professor of anesthesiology Svitlana Smolenchuk, M.D., Ph.D.! Dr. Smolenchuk was chosen because of the amazing educational experiences she’s provided for residents and fellows here in the department. Read on for some quotes from her nominations.

Please help us congratulate our July 2023 Resident of the Month, Michael Jones, M.D.! Dr. Jones was nominated by his fellow residents and faculty for his attitude, professionalism, and teamwork. Below are some of the quotes from his nominations. “Dr. Jones volunteered (without duress) to relieve someone late…

In June, the University of Florida College of Medicine announced a new artificial intelligence-enabled Quality & Patient Safety initiative, or QPSi. The goal of the initiative, backed by $10 million annually in state funding, is to “create an institute that will drive innovations that improve quality, patient safety, health…

Federico Jimenez Ruiz, M.D., joined the department in July as an assistant professor in the divisions of Pediatric Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine. Jimenez Ruiz earned his medical degree from Universidad CES in Medellin, Colombia, and completed his anesthesiology residency at the University of Minnesota. He then completed a regional…

The department is excited to welcome two new simulation fellows at the Center for Safety, Simulation & Advanced Learning Technologies (CSSALT)! Hyunyoung Lim, M.D., Ph.D., earned her medical degree and Ph.D. from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Republic of Korea. She completed a residency and fellowship…

Congratulations to everyone who had publications in July of 2023! Published Department of Anesthesiology faculty were Doctors Boezaart, Dooley, Edwards, Euliano, Gonzalez, Ihnatsenka, Jimenez-Ruiz, Le-Wendling, Maybauer, Smith, and Reynolds. Anesthesia and Analgesia Jimenez-Ruiz F, Dooley FC, Gonzalez SN, Edwards CM. Imbalance in clinically meaningful variables. Anesth Analg. 2023;137(2):e13-e14. doi:10.1213/ANE.0000000000006559…

A team of care providers and staff from the UF College of Medicine and UF Health is working to optimize the evaluation of patients prior to surgery as part of an initiative under the patient care pillar of the college’s five-year strategic plan.

Jordan D. Phillips, M.D., joined us in July as an assistant professor in the division of Critical Care Medicine. Phillips received his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, and also completed his anesthesiology residency there, where he acted as co-chief resident and received the 2022 John…

Six physicians began their regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine fellowships with us this summer. Please help us welcome them to the team! Juan Acosta, M.D. Dr. Acosta earned his medical degree from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá D.C., Colombia. He completed a pediatrics residency at MedStar Georgetown University…

Last week we reported that our department had a 100% pass rate among our residents who took the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) BASIC examination. This week, we’d like to extend our congratulations to four of those residents who scored in the top 10% nationally! They are: Alex…

Chris Samouce, Ph.D., has been promoted to assistant scientist in the division of research and will continue to work with the Center for Safety, Simulation & Advanced Learning Technologies (CSSALT). He joined CSSALT in October as a software engineer. Samouce earned both his B.S. and Ph.D. in physics from…

Please help us congratulate our June 2023 resident of the month: Hadia Maqsood, M.D.! Dr. Maqsood was Resident of the Month last July, so her fellow residents and faculty are no strangers to the qualities that make her an excellent leader and physician. Below are some quotes from this…

Three physicians began their critical care medicine fellowship with us this summer. Each of them has recently completed their emergency medicine residency right here at the University of Florida. Please help us welcome them to the next stage of their training in the department! Nhi Luu. D.O. Dr. Luu…

Congratulations to everyone who had publications in June of 2023! Published faculty were Doctors Berkow, Garvan, Modave, Robicsek, Srisooksai, and Vasilopoulos. American Journal of Health Education Wahltinez O, Glasgow S, Cheung A, Glasgow JF, Noguera M, Glasgow JW, Hoalt PN. The Mango Model: best practices in the creation…

A team from the University of Florida’s Center for Safety, Simulation & Advanced Learning Technologies (CSSALT), led by Chris Samouce, Ph.D., assistant scientist in the UF Department of Anesthesiology, has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Innovators Network to develop an interactive,…

Four physicians began their cardiothoracic anesthesiology fellowship with us this summer. Please help us welcome them to the team! Geoffry Burks, D.O. Dr. Burks earned his medical degree from Touro University Nevada College and completed his anesthesiology residency at the University of Washington. He enjoys outdoor activities like SCUBA…

Lauren Berkow, M.D., FASA, professor of anesthesiology and chief of the division of neuroanesthesiology, serves as co-chair of the UF Health Shands Sustainability Committee.

The American Statistical Association (ASA) has elected Terrie Vasilopoulos, Ph.D., associate professor of anesthesiology and orthopaedic surgery & sports medicine, as chair-elect of its Statistical Consulting Section. She will serve as chair-elect in 2024, chair in 2025, and past chair in 2026. Vasilopoulos, who has been a member of…

Timothy Vincent Feldheim, M.D., M.S., joined us in June as an assistant professor in the divisions of Multispecialty Anesthesiology, Vascular Anesthesiology, and Pain Medicine. He joins us from Cincinnati, where he worked as an interventional pain physician in private practice. Dr. Feldheim received his bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular…

More than twenty faculty, residents, and staff from the Department of Anesthesiology had a great weekend at the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists’ annual meeting held June 9-11 at The Breakers in West Palm Beach, Florida. Hayden Dohnalek, M.D., who graduated from residency this month and is…

Please help us congratulate our May 2023 Resident of the Month: Kelley Martin, M.D.! Dr. Martin was nominated by her fellow residents and faculty for her consistent hard work and dedication. Below are some quotes from her nominations. “Kelley is a superstar on so many levels. Her preparation of…

We are excited to announce the appointment of Basma Mohamed, MBChB, as medical director of the Presurgical Clinic and chief of the Division of Perioperative Medicine. In this new role, Mohamed will assume a range of responsibilities including overseeing preoperative evaluations, addressing patient concerns, leading education and…

Albert Robinson, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology, and Hamad Sagheer, M.D., CA-1, traveled to Washington, D.C., last month to attend the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ 2023 Legislative Conference. Robinson said anesthesiologists from around the country traveled to the capitol to advocate for patient care, preserving safe care for veterans,…

Twenty Department of Anesthesiology interns had the opportunity to learn essential clinical skills in preparation for their first year of clinical anesthesiology training (CA-1) at the 2023 Basic Skills Boot Camp, held the week of June 5. The sessions are designed to address basic clinical and communication skills to…

A team of doctors from the University of Florida Department of Anesthesiology recently returned from an outreach trip to Ruth Paz Hospital in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The visit was the final instructional component of a curriculum designed to teach point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) and ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia (UGRA) techniques…

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers had to take many precautions to avoid being infected, and ineffective use of personal protective equipment (PPE) was a significant hazard. In the Department of Anesthesiology, an initiative was launched to train residents in effective techniques for putting on and removing…

Congratulations to everyone who had publications in May of 2023! Published faculty were Doctors Doré, Fahy, Kumar, Lopez, Maybauer, Sappenfield, Schutte, Seubert, Spiess, Tighe, Vose, and Wardhan. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association O’Brien K, Feng R, Sieber F, Marcantonio ER, Tierney A, Magaziner J, Carson JL,…

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Matthew Andoniadis, M.D., as the chief of the Division of Multispecialty Anesthesiology. As chief, Andoniadis will represent our largest group of physician anesthesiologists and serve as a liaison with various departments and divisions. In his new role, Andoniadis will assume a…

The Department of Anesthesiology’s Spring 2023 research funding opportunity, which closed on May 5, awarded five research grants totaling $18,415 to support faculty research. The winners are Michael Franklin, D.O., Amanda Frantz, M.D., Sebastian R. Gatica-Moris, M.D., Anatoly Martynyuk, Ph.D., and Soleil Schutte, M.D. Dr. Franklin’s proposal is…

We are excited to announce that Rene Przkora, M.D., Ph.D., and the Multidisciplinary Pain Medicine Fellowship program have been awarded a fellowship grant from the Abbott Medical Device Grant Committee. Abbott, which operates in more than 160 countries, produces diagnostics, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. It funds a number of…

Lauren Berkow, M.D., FASA, professor of anesthesiology and chief of the division of neuroanesthesiology, has been reelected to the University of Florida Faculty Senate as a representative of the College of Medicine. Dr. Berkow, who has represented the College of Medicine since 2020, will begin her new term in…

Please help us congratulate our April 2023 Resident of the Month: Daniel Aine, D.O.! Dr. Aine was nominated by his fellow residents and faculty for consistently and selflessly supporting his colleagues. Below are some quotes from his nominations. “Always has a positive attitude, always steps up to the plate.

Rene Przkora, M.D., Ph.D., professor of anesthesiology and director of our multidisciplinary pain medicine fellowship, has once again been appointed lead for the ASRA Pain Medicine Hot Topics webinars. Since 2021, Dr. Przkora has led Hot Topics, which are a series of 60-minute, non-CME webinars.

Rohan Patel, M.D., is the recipient of the 2023 JS Gravenstein Award. This award is presented each year to an outstanding University of Florida College of Medicine graduate who intends to pursue anesthesiology. Patel was selected by UF Department of Anesthesiology leadership based on his record of achievements and…

Members of the North American Malignant Hyperthermia Registry (NAMHR) traveled to Valenica, Spain last week to take part in the 41st annual meeting of the European Malignant Hyperthermia Group (EMHG). The registry has been hosted by the UF Department of Anesthesiology since 2017. The NAMHR at UF team was…

UF Health Pain Medicine has recently begun offering the SPRINT® peripheral nerve stimulation, or PNS, as a drug-free, minimally invasive way to block chronic pain.

Congratulations to everyone who had publications in April of 2023! Published faculty were Doctors Austin, Boezart, Chembrovich, Edwards, Fahy, Garvan, Gravenstein, Ihnatsenka, Le-Wendling, Martynyuk, Maybauer, Mohamed, Morey, Sappenfield, Seubert, Tighe, and Vasilopoulos. Anesthesia and Analgesia Blaine KP, Dudaryk R, Milne AD, Moon TS, Nagy D, Sappenfield JW, Teng JJ. Training…

Local high school students recently had the opportunity to work on simulators and interact with members of the Department of Anesthesiology, College of Medicine and Center for Safety, Simulation & Advanced Learning Technologies (CSSALT). Albert Robinson, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology and assistant dean for the Office for Diversity…

Congratulations to Katie Cairnes, assistant director of perioperative analytics, and Amy Gunnett, clinical research manager, for being selected as the winners of the seventh annual Rebecca Y. Lovely Outstanding Service Award! Amy and Katie were nominated by other members of their department for this award, which recognizes exemplary performance,…

The inaugural SEAd Sprout Awards for best trainee abstracts were presented at the annual Society for Education in Anesthesia (SEA) Spring Meeting. Dr. Kryvitskaya received the SEAd Sprout Award for her abstract titled “Implementation of Point-of-Care Ultrasound Curriculum in an Anesthesiology Residency Program at the University of Florida.” Dr.

A multidisciplinary team of experts from anesthesiology and acute pain and perioperative medicine, neurology, neurocritical care and neurosurgery at the University of Florida has been awarded a $12.9 million National Institutes of Health grant to test a novel way to relieve pain from headaches stemming from a burst brain…

We’re thrilled to announce that Amanda Frantz, M.D., was chosen from an amazing field of clinical leaders throughout the University of Florida College of Medicine for the Rising Star award. “It is because of you, that the bar for being a clinical leader is set high at the University of Florida,”…

Please help us congratulate our March 2023 Resident of the Month: Tyler Ray, M.D., CA-2! Dr. Ray was nominated by his fellow residents and faculty for consistently going above and beyond in his duties. He’s described as a “true team player.” Below are some quotes from his nominations.

Greg Janelle was appointed interim chair for the Department of Anesthesiology in January, but his time with the University of Florida goes much further back. We sat down with Greg to discuss his past, present and future with the department. Q: What was your time at UF as a…

The University of Florida Department of Anesthesiology successfully hosted the 2023 Spring Anesthesia Ski Summit last month at the scenic Westgate Park City Resort and Spa in Park City, Utah. The event offered a distinctive platform for healthcare professionals from various institutions and departments across the country to come together,…

We are excited to announce that Rene Przkora, M.D., Ph.D., and the Multidisciplinary Pain Medicine Fellowship program have been awarded an educational grant from Medtronic Giving Connection. The annual Pain Therapies Fellowship Grant is one way Medtronic demonstrates its support for the medical community and qualified medical teaching institutions. Medtronic…

Congratulations to everyone who had publications in March of 2023! Published faculty were Doctors Berkow, Brennan, Doré, Garvan, Fahy, Haas, Jones, Kumar, Lampotang, Maybauer, Modave, Mohamed, Reina, Sibille, Vasilopoulos, Wardhan, and Peggy White. Anatomy & Cell Biology Carrera A, Chaiyamoon A, Reina F, Iwanaga J, Cateura A, Reina MA,…

A student in the University of Florida College of Medicine’s Medical Student Research Program (MSRP) was honored on March 23 for his research under the mentorship of Meghan Brennan, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of anesthesiology. Jonathan Smith ’25 received the Lawrence M. Goodman Trust Award for his research project,…

We are proud to announce that fourth-year resident Shahrukh Bengali, M.D., was honored with the 2022 Outstanding Resident Educator Award on March 14 at the Celebration of Excellence in Medical Education reception. “I am truly honored to have received this award and am thankful to my own teachers over the…

Raquel Buser, M.D., and John Heinbockel, M.D., MSEE, joined the Department of Anesthesiology in March. Raquel Buser, M.D., joined us as an assistant professor of anesthesiology in the Division of Multispecialty Anesthesiology on March 20. She joins us from Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo, CO, where she…

Please help us congratulate our February 2023 Resident of the Month: Talles Sidronio, M.D., CA-3! Dr. Sidronio was nominated by his fellow residents and faculty for his hard work and motivation and for going above and beyond in his duties. Below are some of the quotes from his nominations.

Congratulations to everyone who had publications in February 2023! Published faculty are: Drs. Martin, Reina, Loeb, Kumar, Haas, Martynyuk, Maybauer, Vasilopoulos, Lampotang, Przkora, Pitkin, Janelle and Sullivan. Anesthesia and Analgesia Connelly NR, Adler AC, Vanderberg LE, Conlin F, Mitchell JD, Goldstein S, Haspel RL; ATEST Collaborators; COLLABORATORS [Martin TW].

Congratulations to Juan Mora, M.D., Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Medical Director of the Ayers Pain Medicine Surgical Center, as well as Anesthesiology Clinical Research Manager Amy Gunnett, R.N., CCRC and Clinical Research Coordinator III Amanda Slater! Their University of Florida research team received an award for excellence…

We are thrilled to announce that Brandon Peckham, MHA, has been appointed Vice Chair for Finance and Administration for the Department of Anesthesiology. In this role, Brandon will be responsible for directing and managing the administrative, financial and clinical business planning activities of the department, as well as the regional…

This week UF Health has been hosting the 2023 Patient Safety Quality Week with speakers, education and poster sessions, and Quality Hero recognitions. Basma Mohamed, MBChB, assistant professor of anesthesiology and assistant program director for resident wellness, was nominated by her colleagues for the Outstanding Clinical Faculty/Advanced Practice…