Dr. George Gregory, Pioneer of CPAP, to be Honored with Myron Yaster Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia

Portrait of George Gregory at Anesthesia Grand Rounds

During his time at Iowa, Bill Hamilton had been disturbed by the newborns he treated who were in respiratory distress. “I could hear the tiny alveoli popping and I found if I kept the bag tight, I could keep the airway from collapsing on itself,” said Hamilton. At the time, 100 percent oxygen was the standard gas for treating patients in respiratory distress and by maintaining pressure using pure oxygen, said Hamilton, “We found dramatic and immediate responses, but the results weren’t maintainable for more than a few hours. It never occurred to us that oxygen could be the cause.” When he arrived at UCSF, however, he found the ideal person to solve the problem. At the time, George Gregory was in his last year of residency, and Hamilton put him to work on devising a treatment for hyaline membrane disease. “He was willing, probably because George isn’t happy unless he’s underpaid, underfed, and overworked,” said Hamilton. Working in part from findings by a group in Boston about oxygen toxicity, Gregory – whose commitment to pediatric anesthesia is legendary – confirmed that oxygen toxicity was real and soon discovered that if you increased airway pressure with 30 percent oxygen, you could keep the airways open without harming the lungs. The result was Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), which has saved the lives of countless children in respiratory distress. Gregory would go on to write the definitive text on pediatric anesthesia and pediatric intensive care and is today recognized as among the foremost authorities on pediatric anesthesia in the world. In honor of his contributions to medicine, Dr. Gregory received The Myron Yaster Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia at their 33rd annual meeting in October, 2019. Photo from the award ceremony is below.