Announcing the 2026-2027 Clinical Seed Award Recipients

We’re thrilled to announce that Drs. Eugene Carragee, Pamela Huang, and Elodie Lang have received Department of Anesthesia Clinical Seed Awards for the 2026-2027 cycle.

The purpose of this award mechanism is to provide funding support to clinical Anesthesia faculty for mentored research projects involving human subjects, human samples, and/or data derived from human subjects. This award is for faculty at all career stages and is suitable for individuals without substantial research experience. The Clinical Seed Award program is managed by the Anesthesia Biostatistics and Clinical Research Design (ABCD) group, which reviews applications and provides guidance and mentorship to applicants and awardees. The application is a multi-step process, involving a letter of intent, brief presentation, and full proposal submission over a 4–5-month period. During this process, applicants are given iterative feedback to help them develop the strongest project possible. Expert feedback continues during the award period, as awardees are required to give project updates throughout the year.

Read about the funded studies below.

PI: Eugene Carragee, MD
Mentors: Michael Lipnick, MD; Matthieu Legrand, MD, PhD; Anshuman Sharma, MD, MBA
Study: Spectrophotometric Assessment of Pulse Oximeter Accuracy in Hypoxemic Pediatric Patients

Accuracy of peripheral pulse oximeters for pediatric patients is understudied despite acute lower respiratory infections being the leading cause of non-neonatal death in patients under the age of five. Reliance on pulse oximeter data for clinical decision making in hypoxemic pediatric patients persists despite evidence that shows pulse oximeters have significant inaccuracies, especially for patients with darker skin pigment. This will be one of the first independent clinical studies using spectrophotometry to reproducibly measure skin tone while evaluating pulse oximeters specifically marketed for hypoxic pediatric patients with darker skin tones.

PI: Pamela Huang, MD
Mentors: Philip Kurien, MD; Tyler Law, MD; Alexander Butwick, MS, MBBS; John Markley, MD, PhD
Study: Risk of Intraoperative Systemic Adjunct Administration Among Patients with Substance Use Undergoing Cesarean Delivery with Neuraxial Anesthesia

Pain during cesarean delivery affects up to 1 in 5 patients and is increasingly recognized as an under-acknowledged clinical problem that may contribute to postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Patients most at risk for pain during cesarean delivery are incompletely characterized, especially those with substance use disorder (opioid and non-opioid use), an underserved obstetric population. This study will evaluate how often neuraxial anesthesia is supplemented with systemic adjuncts during cesarean delivery in patients with substance use and whether these patients have higher pain burden postpartum with current practices, with the goal of informing future studies and addressing inequities in obstetric anesthesia care.

PI: Elodie Lang, MD, MSc
Mentor: Romain Pirracchio, MD, PhD
Study: Optimal Sequencing of Adjunctive Hemostatic Therapies in Trauma Using Reinforcement Learning

Hemorrhagic shock remains a leading cause of preventable death in severe trauma, yet the optimal sequencing and timing of adjunctive hemostatic agents, including tranexamic acid, fibrinogen concentrate, and calcium during damage control resuscitation is not well established. This project will apply reinforcement learning to real-world clinical data to derive personalized, evidence-based treatment strategies for each patient. Results could directly reduce trauma mortality by informing more precise and timely hemostatic decision-making during the critical early resuscitation phase.

The next Clinical Seed Award cycle is now open. Potential applicants are encouraged to reach out early by completing the ABCD intake form. To learn more, read about recent Clinical Seed Awardee successes.