Major translational research initiatives at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are moving discoveries from the bench to the bedside, and our scientists are working to transform both health care and health care delivery. In federal fiscal year 2022, the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) ranked 11th among U.S. medical schools for National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, and VUSM funding from all sources has more than doubled since 2001. In academic year 2022, faculty across all disciplines received more than $521 million in external funding for research. The Vanderbilt Department of Anesthesiology is a key contributor to the institution’s standing, as it is consistently ranked one of the top extramurally funded anesthesia research programs in the nation. In 2022, the department’s investigators brought in more than $12.5 million in total extramural research funding. This includes more than $8.1 million in awarded NIH grants in federal fiscal year 2022, which placed Vanderbilt Anesthesiology 9th among U.S. academic anesthesiology departments in NIH funding.
Edward Sherwood, MD, PhD, joined Vanderbilt’s Department of Anesthesiology faculty in July 2012 as vice-chair for Research, and he oversees all of the department’s investigational endeavors. A distinguished translational physician-scientist, Dr. Sherwood previously served as vice-chair for Research and Professor/James F. Arens Endowed Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, as well as Director of the MD-PhD Combined Degree Program at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.
The vision of the Research Division is to advance current knowledge and patient care by building upon the department’s currently successful program by fostering excellence, collaboration, and the development of young investigators. The Vanderbilt Department of Anesthesiology has a strong, multifaceted approach to research that includes excellence in Basic Science, Clinical, Informatics and Human Factors Research. Our research productivity, as determined by publication in peer-reviewed journals, has more than doubled since 2010. In academic year 2022, faculty members published 226 papers in the peer-reviewed literature. Many of our papers were published in high impact, multi-disciplinary journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Physiological Reviews, and American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Our faculty members regularly publish in Pain, Anesthesiology, and Anesthesia & Analgesia. Several faculty members are members of the FAER (Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research) Academy of Research Mentors in Anesthesiology.
In addition to providing a solid research infrastructure, the Department of Anesthesiology places a strong emphasis on faculty and fellow career development in academic anesthesiology. Active mentoring programs pair young and mid-level investigators with experienced scientists in both basic and clinical research. The Department commits extensive resources to our BH Robbins Scholars Program, which is supported by an NIH T32 Training Grant. The Robbins Scholar program is devoted to developing the careers of the next generation of physician-scientists in our field and provides extensive resources to facilitate career development of the scholars.