June 16, 2025 By Hannah Fairbanks The inaugural John Severinghaus Annual Lecture on June 11, 2025, celebrated Dr. John Severinghaus’ career and his impact on our department, the anesthesia specialty, and medicine as a whole. In his opening remarks, Anesthesia and Perioperative Care Distinguished Professor and Chair Dr. Michael Gropper reflected on Dr. Severinghaus’ incredible career, noting that “John is influential to everything that we do every day, and I try to make sure that the residents understand that when they’re sending off a blood gas, or giving opiates that are affecting respiration, or think about high altitude, or look at their pulse oximeter.” Dr. Gropper then welcomed Professor and Vice Chair for Research Dr. Judith Hellman to the podium, who introduced Dr. Phil Bickler. Dr. Hellman noted that there is “no one more perfect” to give the inaugural John Severinghaus lecture than Dr. Bickler, who has spent the majority of his professional career in California and within the University of California system, but whose “impact and collaborations have gone and continue to go well beyond the confines of California into the far reaches of the United States and globally.” Dr. Bickler joined Dr. Severinghaus as a research fellow in 1986 and has directed the UCSF Hypoxia Research Laboratory since Dr. Severinghaus’ retirement in the early 1990s. In addition to the Hypoxia Lab, Dr. Bickler directs a basic science laboratory that is involved in studying how neurons adapt to oxygen deprivation. He also oversees high altitude protocols, clinical projects investigating regional and cerebral oximetry during neurosurgery, and a pilot study examining the effects of acute hypoxia. In his lecture, Dr. Bickler shared the influence Dr. Severinghaus had on him both personally and professionally, citing him as “the reason I went to medical school.” He went on to detail Dr. Severinghaus’ “abiding interest” – hypoxia – and the work Dr. Severinghaus pioneered, and how that led to Dr. Bickler’s own career trajectory. Among other important studies and data, Dr. Bickler highlighted the Open Oximetry Project, which tested for differences in pulse oximeter performance across objectively and subjectively measured skin pigmentation. This study enrolled a total of 631 patients from Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG) and the data was gathered by the department’s respiratory care team there. Over 80 people attended the lecture in person (including Dr. George Gregory) and more than 45 tuned in via Zoom. Those who attended in person enjoyed a festive post-lecture reception with conversation, food, and remembrances of Dr. Severinghaus. Watch the recording of the 2025 John Severinghaus Lecture:
Nov 5, 2025 Anesthesia Department Honors Dia de Los Muertos with an Ofrenda Announcement Opportunity and Impact
