Research highlights

In 2025, the department made progress on priorities identified during the 2024 research strategic planning retreat. We finalized four research themes – (1) Organ Injury and Immune-based Therapies, (2) Neurosciences and Pain, (3) Data Sciences, and (4) Population Health and Implementation Sciences – and categorized labs and projects by theme. We continued to invest in shared infrastructure to support our capacity to conduct high impact clinical and computational research. The Clinical Research Core, led by Director of Clinical Research Dr. Matthieu Legrand, expanded with the hiring of new personnel and the incorporation of other departmental clinical research services. In July 2025, the department launched a pilot Data Science Core, an initiative led by faculty members Drs. Romain Pirrachio, Andrew Bishara, Alex Pérez, and Jarret Weinrich and Director of Anesthesia IT Adam Jacobson. The vision for this core is to develop the resources needed to harness the power of AI and machine learning to accelerate clinical and preclinical research within the department.

Our faculty received internal and external honors and awards in 2025, which are listed in full below. Highlights include the UCSF Faculty Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award, given to the department’s Vice Chair for Research, Judith Hellman, MD. Two faculty members were awarded career development awards to facilitate their transition to research independence. Dieter Adelmann, MD, PhD received a FAER Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG), along with the 2025 Alison Cole, PhD Award, which goes to the highest scored MRTG proposal, and Tyler Law, MD received the International Anesthesia Research Society Mentored Research Award.

We named two new faculty to leadership positions within the research domain. Liz Whitlock, MD was appointed Chair of the ABCD (Anesthesia Biostats and Clinical Design) Committee, which provides clinical research mentorship and oversees the department’s Clinical Seed Award program. Alex Pérez, MD, PhD was appointed the inaugural Co-Director of AIRR (Anesthesiology Intensive Research Residency), the research track of our residency program. In addition, Danielle Williamson, MD, PhD was named the 2025-2027 Severinghaus Assistant Professor, a title that honors Assistant Professors in the department whose research shows exciting promise and relevance to problems in human medicine.

Our training programs continued to attract a robust cohort of future anesthesia researchers. We welcomed three new AIRR residents and three new NIH T32 fellows. Our current and recent T32 fellows published six peer-reviewed papers on their T32 projects, including publications in JAMA Cardiology and JAMA Surgery.

2025 ended with our annual celebration of department research, the 13th Annual Anesthesia Research Day. The event was one of our best attended, with 55 oral or poster presentations and over 110 attendees.

Judith Hellman, MD
Professor, Vice Chair of Research

Selected department publications

Both volumes of Miller's Anesthesia textbook on a table with a small green plant.

Total active awards in 2025: 126
Principal Investigators: 58
Median Award Size: $151k
Extramural funds make up 73%
Principal investigator with most awards: Dr. Phil Bickler with 21 

Department Active Research Awards, 2025

Principal Investigator Agency Title Project Begin Project End
Barreto Chang, Odmara UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences Weill Award for Clinician-Scientists in the Neurosciences 7/1/24 6/30/26
Barreto Chang, Odmara Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Perioperative risk factors for postsurgical cognitive decline among older adults undergoing spine surgery 2/1/24 1/31/28
Bickler, Philip Biosency BIOSE01: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 7/30/24 1/29/25
Bickler, Philip LifeLens Technologies, Inc. LIFEL01: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 8/27/24 2/26/25
Bickler, Philip Phillips North America LLC PHIL08: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 2/19/25 2/27/25
Bickler, Philip Neopenda, PBC NEOP02: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 12/10/24 6/9/25
Bickler, Philip Biointellisense BIOI05: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 12/17/24 6/16/25
Bickler, Philip Apple Inc. Ginny APPL04 1/1/25 6/30/25
Bickler, Philip Ayuda Medical, LLC AYUD05: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 3/11/25 9/10/25
Bickler, Philip Halsa Baby Inc. SYNE01: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 3/11/25 9/10/25
Bickler, Philip Altrumed, LLC ALTR01: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 5/27/25 11/26/25
Bickler, Philip Phase Margin, Inc. PHAS03: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 5/27/25 11/26/25
Bickler, Philip LifeLens Technologies, Inc. LIFE03: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 6/11/25 12/10/25
Bickler, Philip ReNu Medical, Inc. ARJO01: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hyposix 7/17/25 12/16/25
Bickler, Philip Huneo, LLC HUNE01: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 6/24/25 12/23/25
Bickler, Philip Huneo, LLC HUNE02: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 6/25/25 12/24/25
Bickler, Philip Esperto Medical, Inc. ESPE01: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 1/1/25 12/31/25
Bickler, Philip Medtronic MEDT01: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 2/23/25 2/22/26
Bickler, Philip GE Precision Healthcare, LLC GEHC02: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 11/19/25 2/28/26
Bickler, Philip Philips North America LLC PHIL10: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 9/9/25 3/9/26
Bickler, Philip Biointellisense BIOI08: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeters with Profound Hypoxia 10/29/25 4/29/26
Bickler, Philip Achaemenid, LLC ACHA01: Accuracy of Pulse Oximeter with Profound Hypoxia 11/25/25 5/25/26
Bickler, Philip Apple Inc. A Clinical A-Line Desaturation Study" ("Kirra") - APPL05 11/15/25 11/14/26
Bishara, Andrew UCSF Anesthesia Dept Anesthesia Department Research Award 7/1/25 6/30/26
Bishara, Andrew The Doctors Company Foundation An AI-Driven Approach to Reduce Chronic Post-Surgical Pain and Opioid Use  10/1/24 9/30/26
Bishara, Andrew NIH/NIGMS Real-time Prediction of Adverse Outcomes After Surgery 8/1/23 7/31/28
Bokoch, Michael La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company Angiotensin II in Liver Transplantation (AngLT-1): a pilot randomized controlled trial 1/18/22 1/17/28
Buren, Marc UCSF Hellman Fellows Fund The Impact of Postoperative Lidocaine Infusion on Inflammatory Mediators and Postoperative Delirium Following Major Spinal Surgery 7/15/23 6/30/26
Buren, Marc UCSF Anesthesia Dept Anesthesia Department Research Award 7/1/24 6/30/26
Chen, Catherine NIH/NIA Frailty and Monitored Anesthesia Care for Cataract Surgery in Older Adults 5/1/21 4/30/26
Chen, Catherine UCSF Anesthesia Dept Feasibility pilot study assessing oral versus intravenous sedation alternatives to monitored anesthesia care for cataract surgery 7/1/23 6/30/26
Chen, Catherine UCSF Anesthesia Dept Anesthesia Department Research Award 7/1/25 6/30/26
Chen, Lee-lynn University of Michigan THRIVE: Trajectories of Recovery after Intravenous Propofol Vs Inhaled VolatilE Anesthesia 7/1/23 6/30/26
Chen, Lee-lynn The General Hospital Corporation Preoperative Fasting vs. Not Fasting in Mechanically Ventilated Patients who Receive Tube Feeding: A Pragmatic Comparative Safety Trial 8/1/24 9/31/2026
Chinn, Gregory UCSF Anesthesia Dept Anesthesia Department Research Award 7/1/25 6/30/26
Chyan, Arthur UCSF Center for Faculty Educators OME Education Research Seed Grant 6/1/25 6/30/26
Cil, Hemra UCSF Anesthesia Dept Pharmacokinetics and Quantitative Analysis of Magnesium Sulfate on Transcranial Motor-Evoked Potentials During Major Spinal Surgery 1/1/25 12/31/25
Cobert, Julien UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Exploring the use of a Hyperspectral Imaging System for Real-Time and Real-World Detection and Classification of Medication Labels and Pharmaceutical Compounds 7/1/25 6/30/26
Doan, Thien UCSF Anesthesia Dept Anesthesia Department Research Award 7/1/25 6/30/26
Donovan, Anne UCSF Anesthesia Dept Anesthesia Department Research Award 2/1/25 6/30/26
Ehie, Odinakachukwu American Society of Anesthesiologists Professional Diversity Mentoring Grant Program 10/1/24 11/30/26
Feiner, John UCSF Academic Affairs 2025-2027 UCSF Edward A. Dickson Emeritus Professorship Award 7/1/25 6/30/27
Gandhi, Seema Commonwealth Fund Measuring and Mitigating the Carbon Impacts of Health Care Goods and Services 2/1/23 6/30/26
Greene, Jacob Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research 2025 Subsequent Fellowship Program Grant 10/30/25 4/24/26
Gropper, Michael Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research 2025 Medical Student Anesthesia Research Fellowship 1/1/24 12/31/25
Guan, Zhonghui NIH/NINDS Mechanism of Microglia Proliferation 6/1/21 5/31/26
Hellman, Judith NIH/NIAID TRPV1-dependent neuro-immune modulation and regulation of endogenous acyl-dopamines in sepsis and acute inflammation 6/3/22 5/31/25
Hellman, Judith NIH/NIAID TRPV1-dependent neuro-immune modulation and regulation of endogenous acyl-dopamines in sepsis and acute inflammation 6/1/25 5/31/27
Hellman, Judith NIH/NIGMS Comprehensive Anesthesia Research Training 7/1/22 6/30/27
Jiang, Xiangning NIH/NINDS A Critical Role for Microglial Cholesterol 25-hydroxylase in regulating Neuroinflammation Following Neonatal Brain Hypoxia-Ischemia 4/15/24 3/31/26
Juang, Jeremy UCSF Anesthesia Dept Imaging based screening tool for predicting difficult airway 7/1/23 6/30/26
Kathiriya, Irfan UCSF Hellman Fellows Fund Developmental Origins of Congenital Heart Disease 7/1/17 6/30/26
Kathiriya, Irfan NIH/NHLBI Patterning Mechanisms for Ventricular Septation and Congenital Heart Disease 9/19/24 8/31/26
Kathiriya, Irfan J. David Gladstone Institutes Early Cardiac Progenitors 9/1/25 8/31/29
Khan, Irum UCSF Anesthesia Dept Describing the Practice of Supraglottic Airway Device Use and Selection in the United States: An MPOG Study 1/1/25 3/31/26
Khan, Irum Mount Zion Health Fund Describing the Practice of Supraglottic Airway Device Use and Selection in the United States: An MPOG Study 7/1/24 6/30/26
Khan, Irum Academy/Medical Educators - UCSF Innovations Funding for Education 2025 7/1/25 6/30/26
Kim, Helen American Heart Association Predictors of Growth, Recurrence, and High-Risk Features in Pediatric Brain Arteriovenous Malformation 1/1/21 12/31/25
Kim, Helen NIH/NINDS Brain Vascular Malformation Consortium: Predictor's of Clinical Course 8/15/19 6/30/26
Kurien, Philip UCSF High Throughput Perioperative Optimization for Obstructive Sleep Apnea 8/1/21 6/30/26
Langnas, Erica UCSF Anesthesia Dept National Variation in Multimodal Analgesia Use and Associated PACU Outcomes for Common Surgeries 7/1/25 6/30/27
Law, Tyler International Anesthesia Research Society 2025 IARS Mentored Research Award 8/1/25 7/31/27
Lee, Chanhung Merck & Co Inc A Double-Blind, Randomized, Crossover Design Study to Compare the Rocuronium Reversal by Sugammadex to Succinvlcholine for Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) 7/1/17 6/30/26
Lee, Won UCSF Hellman Fellows Fund 2025 UCSF Society of Hellman Fellows Award 7/1/25 6/30/27
Legrand, Matthieu Renibus Therapeutics The choice of vasopressor to prevent postoperative acute kidney injury after major non-cardiac surgery: a multicenter pragmatic cluster cross-over randomized trial (the VEGA-2 trial) 12/11/24 12/11/25
Legrand, Matthieu NIH/NIGMS Identification of sub-phenotypes of severely ill burn patients and risk for secondary sepsis: SEPSISBURN 9/15/23 7/31/27
Legrand, Matthieu Spectral Medical Inc. A Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized, Open-Label Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of PMX Cartridge in Addition to Standard Medical Care for Patients with Endotoxemic Septic Shock: TIGRIS TRIAL 9/29/22 4/1/28
Legrand, Matthieu Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled, four-arm, parallel-group, dose-finding phase 2b study to investigate the safety and efficacy of TIN816 via a single intravenous infusion in the treatment of participants with sepsis 1/1/24 1/1/29
Legrand, Matthieu Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ARTEMIS: RAvulizumab to PRotect PaTients with Chronic Kidney DisEase (CKD) froM Cardiac Surgery Associated Acute Kidney Injury (CSA-AKI) and Subsequent Major Adverse Kidney Events (MAKE): A Phase 3, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Multicenter Study 2/6/24 2/4/29
Legrand, Matthieu Mass General Brigham Incorporated Minimizing ICU Neurological Dysfunction with Dexmedetomidine-induced Sleep (MINDDS II) 6/15/24 5/31/29
Legrand, Matthieu NIH/NIDDK The choice of vasopressor to prevent postoperative acute kidney injury after major non-cardiac surgery: a multicenter pragmatic cluster cross-over randomized trial (the VEGA-2 trial) 9/1/24 8/31/29
Lipnick, Michael Medical Anesthesia Global Health Global Health Endowment Fund 7/1/19 6/30/26
Lipnick, Michael UCSF Hellman Fellows Fund Global Health Equity Program 7/1/19 6/30/26
Lipnick, Michael UCSF Academic Senate Chancellor's Fund: Faculty Enrichment/Needs 6/1/20 6/30/26
Lipnick, Michael Burroughs Wellcome Fund   9/1/25 8/31/30
Liu, Bin UCSF UCSF Innovation Venture fund: Develop a non-legand surrogate Wnt agonist human antibody for bone regeneration 9/1/22 12/31/26
Liu, Bin DOD US Army Med. Res. Bispecific antibody-drug conjugates against emerging targets in metastatic lethal prostate cancer 4/15/24 4/14/27
Liu, Bin NIH/NCI Develop novel bispecific antibody-drug conjugates against metastatic lethal prostate cancer across subtype 4/1/24 3/31/29
Liu, Bin NIH/NCI Bispecific T call engager targeting a highly specific tumor cell surface antigen 6/15/24 5/31/29
Liu, Bin University of Virginia Targeting tumor-specific epitope for imaging and therapy for mesothelioma 1/1/25 12/31/29
Liu, Bin (MPI)/Roybal, Kole NIH/NCI Combination antigen sensing engineered T cell for precise recognition and enhanced elimination of solid tumors 4/1/23 3/31/28
Marks, James CA Dept of Public Health Development of monoclonal antibody-based ultrasensitive assays for diagnosis of infant botulism 7/1/24 6/30/27
Maze, Mervyn NIH/NIA IL-6 Trans-signaling increases vulnerability to Postoperative Cognitive Decline in Aging and Alzheimers Disease 9/15/24 5/31/29
McKay, Rachel Neuroptics, Inc. Development and Commercialization of a Pupillometer to Predict Postoperative Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression in Children 7/1/24 6/30/26
Pan, Jonathan Department of Defense Activating Transcription Factor 3 Is a Biomarker for Spinal Cord Injury with Neuroprotective Function 9/1/22 8/31/26
Perez, Alexendar Mount Zion Health Fund Novel CRISPR therapy for breast cancer brain metastasis 7/1/25 6/30/26
Perez, Alexendar NIH/NIGMS Role of Transposable Elements in Septic Immune Aging 2/1/25 1/31/30
Pirracchio, Romain AOP Orphan Pharmaceuticals GmbH Heterogeneity in the response to Vasopressin in Patients 8/21/24 7/31/25
Pirracchio, Romain UC Los Angeles Personalized Risk Prediction for Prevention and Early Detection of Postoperative Failure 9/1/23 8/31/27
Pirracchio, Romain Henry M. Jackson Foundation for Adv of Military Medicine Development of predictive algorithms for patient bleeding or clotting during extracorporeal membrane oxygen (ECMO) support 9/23/24 9/22/28
Pirracchio, Romain NIH/NHLBI SMART-SEPSIS: Sequential MAchine learning for individualized Response to early Treatment in lung SEPSIS 8/21/25 5/31/29
Prakash Budde, Arun NIH/NHLBI The Gut-Lung Axis: Immunometabolism Linking the Gut Microbiome and Lung Immunity 2/15/20 1/31/26
Sall, Jeffrey Pfizer US Pharmaceuticals A PHASE 3/4 RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, DOSE-RANGING STUDY 2/26/20 2/26/25
Schumacher, Mark UCSF Anesthesia Dept Anesthesia Department Research Award 7/1/25 6/30/26
Schwartz, Rachel NIH/NIGMS Training to Enhance Researcher Resilience and Adaptability (TERRA) 4/1/24 3/31/26
Sharma, Anshuman University of Pittsburgh Implementing and Personalizing Best-in-Class Opioid-sparing Pain Management for Major Inpatient Surgeries in Children 9/5/24 8/31/25
Sharma, Anshuman Washington University in St. Louis DOT for peri-operative neuromonitoring in children with congenital heart disease 7/1/24 6/30/26
Sharma, Anshuman University of Pittsburgh Perioperative Precision Medicine: Translating Science to Clinical Practice to Improve Safety and Efficacy of Opioids in Neonates, Children and Nursing Mothers 8/3/22 8/31/29
Sharma, Anshuman University of Pittsburgh Implementing and Personalizing Best-in-Class Opioid-sparing Pain Management for Major Inpatient Surgeries in Children 9/5/24 8/31/29
Shimabukuro, David Dartmouth College The BASIC trial: Improving implementation of evidence-based approaches and surveillance to prevent bacterial transmission and infection 6/17/21 5/31/26
Shirvalkar, Prasad Howard University An Automated Process for Optimizing and Predicting Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Pain 10/1/24 3/31/25
Shirvalkar, Prasad NIH/NINDS Multisite Adaptive Brain Stimulation for Multidimensional Treatment of Refractory Chronic Pain 9/30/19 11/30/25
Shirvalkar, Prasad Marcus Program in Precision Medicine Innovation Precision Medicine for Chronic Pain: Personalized Brain Network Modulation for Chronic Neuropathic Pain Syndromes 4/1/23 3/31/26
Shirvalkar, Prasad UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences EEG-Guided Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Back and Leg Pain 7/1/22 12/31/26
Shirvalkar, Prasad UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences Weill Neurohub Award 7/1/25 6/30/27
Shirvalkar, Prasad NIH/NINDS Corticothalamic network function in chronic pain 6/15/24 5/31/29
Sinskey, Jina UCSF Anesthesia Dept CO-OR: CO-Designing Solutions for Well-Being and Patient Safety in the Operating Room 7/1/25 6/30/27
Su, Hua NIH/NINDS Reduction of Brain AVM Severity through Inhibition of Pathogenic Angiogenesis 2/1/20 1/31/26
Su, Paul UCSF Academic Senate Learning and Development Fund 5/1/24 4/30/26
Su, Paul Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research The role of sensory neuron regeneration in regulating acute and persistent postsurigcal pain  8/1/24 7/30/26
Tang, Justine UCSF Anesthesia Dept Anesthesia Department Research Award 7/1/25 6/30/26
Wallace, Arthur NCIRE-Northern California Institute for Research and Education Perioperative Outcomes Epidemiologic Consortium 3/1/12 3/1/26
Wallace, Arthur VA IT VA_AnesQIP 1/1/23 9/30/26
Wallace, Arthur Atapir AVD-M: Audio Visual Detection of Respiration (AVD-R) Study 1/1/13 12/31/26
Weinsheimer, Shantel American Heart Association Epigenetic Signatures and Association with Hemorrhage and High Risk Features in Brain Arteriovenous Malformation 4/1/24 3/31/27
Whitlock, Elizabeth NIH/NIA Predicting long-term cognitive outcomes and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias after major noncardiac surgery for older adults 9/1/22 5/31/27
Whitlock, Elizabeth Mount Zion Health Fund Pragmatic Characterization of Brain Health Recovery After Surgery Across the Spectrum of Age 6/1/25 6/30/27
Whitlock, Elizabeth Stanford University Usage of Novel Linked Databases to Improve the Perioperative Management of Patients With Alzheimers Disease and Related Dementias  7/1/24 8/31/27
Williamson, Danielle UCSF Anesthesia Dept Anesthesia Department Research Award 7/1/24 6/30/26
Williamson, Danielle Scanbo Technologies Inc Scanbo D8 Clinical Accuracy Validation Study 10/1/25 9/30/26
Williamson, Danielle UCSF Anesthesia Dept 2025-2027 Severinghaus Assistant Professor 7/1/25 6/30/27
Yu, Xiaobing NIH/NIAMS ACVR1 sensory neuron-specific signaling in neuropathic pain and injury-induced heterotopic ossification 9/23/23 6/30/28
Zhou, Wei UCSF Anesthesia Dept Anesthesia Department Research Award 4/1/25 6/30/26
Zhou, Wei UCSF Research Evaluation and Allocation Committee (REAC) Role of orexin/hypocretin circuit in anesthesia 7/1/25 6/30/26