June 30, 2025 By Morgen Ahearn Awards Ludwig Lin, MD, Suwayda Ali, UCSF MS3, et al. ASA Mentoring Grant. Project presented at both the SEA and the CSA meetings in April 2025, and abstract accepted for ASA 2025. Honors Charlene Blake, MD, PhD. Third Place, Waste to Art 2025, for “SANKOFA: I am part of the problem, I am part of the solution.” Dr. Blake’s description of the piece: On first glance, you see a flag of three horizontal stripes of equal width, top red, middle black and bottom green, superimposed by a gold heart with curls at its base and apex. This flag is the Pan-African Flag created in 1920 by Marcus Garvey to unite all people of African descent; red represents the blood shed in the struggle for Black liberation, black for the people of African descent and green for the abundant natural wealth of Africa. The gold heart is one of two renderings of the Adinkra symbol “SANKOFA” from the Akan people of Ghana meaning “go back and get it”, emphasizing the importance of learning from history, honoring our ancestors and traditions, reclaiming what was lost or forgotten and healing ourselves and the collective through reflection and action. The SANKOFA symbol is created from a combination of dots and dashes which spell in Morse Code “I AM PART OF THE PROBLEM” on the left portion of the heart (starting at bottom left) and “I AM PART OF THE SOLUTION” on the right side (starting top right, to complete the heart); medium dots separate words. The three-pronged flourish at the apex of the heart spells my initials (CMB) in Morse code. This framework embodies Sankofa, centering personal reflection followed by action to move towards a better future. Medicine syringe labels provide color for the flag: red from Rocuronium, a paralytic agent; black from Protamine, one of the few drugs that can negate another drug; and green from Atropine, used to increase ones heart rate. From top to bottom, RPA—Rest in Power/Peace, Ancestors (rest as roc relaxes muscles, power from a reversal agent that affords cardiopulmonary bypass, and ancestors that gave us life from a drug used to resuscitate life). Dots for Morse Code are all from rocuronium vial caps (5 mL for small, 10 mL for medium) as overcoming the activation energy to reflect and act may be paralyzing, and dashes are made from the small blue caps at the end of microbore tubing. Reverberations of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade remain present and permeate all aspects of life, especially for those racialized as Black. Through unity, reflection and action, we move towards healing and liberation. In this space and others, how are you ‘part of the problem’? Humble yourself. How are you ‘part of the solution’? Do it. In the News Nu Cindy Chai, MD, Prasad Shirvalkar, MD, PhD, Chris Abrecht, MD, and the Center for Pain Medicine featured in UCSF Magazine. Can We Train Our Brain to Unlearn Chronic Pain? Summer 2025. Image Publications Gisselbaek M, Berger-Estilita J, Minsart L, Köselerli E, Devos A, Matos FM, Barreto Chang OL, Dieckmann P, Suppan M, Saxena S. Gender Disparities in Artificial Intelligence-Generated Images of Hospital Leadership in the United States. Mayo Clin Proc Digit Health. 2025 Jun; 3(2):100218. Sathe TS, Wang JJ, Wang K, Sorrentino TA, Yap A, Ashraf Ganjouei A, O'Sullivan P, Roll GR, Gandhi S, Lee H, Alseidi A, Surgical Sustainability Working Group. Attitudes toward Sustainability among Surgeons at Ten Academic Hospitals in the United States: Are we Ready, Willing, and Incentivized to Change? Ann Surg. 2025 Apr 11. C. Hughes, M. Lipnick, G. Leeb, I. Auchus, T. Law, P. Bickler, J. Feiner, E. Behnke, L. Ortiz, D. Chen, F. Negussie, E. Monk, E. Igaga, K. Moore Jr., O. Okunlola, L. Shmuylovich, R. Bisegerwa, R. Vargas Zamora. Pulse Oximeter Performance Across Varied Skin Pigment: A Comparative Analysis of Current and Emerging Regulatory Standards. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2025 May 1; 211(Abstracts):a7174-a7174. Y. Chou, D. Chen, E. Behnke, L. Ortiz, R. Vargas Zamora, C.M. Hendrickson, T. Law, F. Negussie, P. Bickler, J. Feiner, M.S. Lipnick. Examination of Sex-linked Differences in Resting SpO 2 and SaO 2 in Healthy Adults. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2025 May 1; 211(Abstracts):a1989-a1989. Gandhi S, Wang K, Young C, Clarke AL, Gropper MA, Lakatos K, Lipnick MS, Sasaki Russell J, Prakash A, Gelb AW. Global Survey of Anesthesia Breathing Circuit Reuse: A Neglected Opportunity for U.S. Health Care to Reduce Climate Impact. Anesthesiology. 2025 May 20.
Nov 5, 2025 Anesthesia Department Honors Dia de Los Muertos with an Ofrenda Announcement Opportunity and Impact
