Bruce D Spiess, MD, FAHA

Dr. Spiess joined us as a Professor of Anesthesiology and Associate Chair for Research. He was born to academic parents and grew up steeped in a research background, as his father was a geneticist and his mother was a biochemist. He attended Denison University in Granville, Ohio, where in 2017 he earned their highest honor, the Alumni citation, for his research work in medicine. He attended Rush Medical College in Chicago, followed by the Mayo Clinic for anesthesiology training, where he specialized in cardiothoracic anesthesiology and was chief resident.

Dr. Spiess returned to Rush for his first faculty position in 1983 and stayed until 1990. From there, he travelled to Seattle to become the Chief of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology at the University of Washington. He eventually took the position of Vice Chairman of Anesthesiology at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he stayed for 17 years until pursuing his present position at the University of Florida.

Dr. Spiess has focused on his research efforts on blood – its critical oxygen-carrying capacity, oxygen therapeutic pharmaceutical development (previously known as “blood substitutes”), the risks of blood transfusion, coagulation/coagulopathy, and developing monitoring technologies. His extensive work in the risks of blood transfusion has led him to be an outspoken proponent of patient blood management. He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed academic articles, more than 40 book chapters, 7 textbooks, and he has appeared on the Discovery Channel and other media. His work has been funded mostly by the U.S. Department of Defense, and he has led major conferences for the DOD, NIH, and FDA regarding critical blood issues. As it pertains to coagulation management, Dr. Spiess was the first to author research studies pertaining to the use of thromboelastography for heart surgery, and he has published extensively in that area, calling on clinicians to develop and utilize whole blood testing in conjunction with algorithms for coagulopathy treatment. He has been on the board of directors of various academic societies, including the Society for Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists as well as the boards of commercial companies.

Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology

Research into blood, blood substitutes/oxygen therapeutics, cardiopulmonary bypass, limiting blood transfusion, coagulation, carbon monoxide poisoning, traumatic brain injury and cardiac arrest