Alaa Abd-Elsayed, MD, MPH Laboratory
Dr. Abd-Elsayed’s research interests involve finding new clinical strategies to reduce chronic pain and for general pain management treatment. By carefully considering the pathology of the pain and treating the whole patient, the team has been able to treat many patients with state-of-the-art therapies, including using advanced technology and modalities, that are successful in reducing or blocking pain and dramatically improving their quality of life.
Matthew Banks, PhD Laboratory
Research in the Banks lab centers on how changes in brain activity and connectivity result in changes in consciousness. Studies focus on neural mechanisms of loss and recovery of consciousness under anesthesia, the overlap of these mechanisms with changes in arousal during natural sleep, the link between inflammation and brain function during postoperative delirium, and the mechanisms whereby psychedelics ameliorate psychiatric disorders (depression, substance use disorder).
Kristin Bevil, MD Laboratory
Dr. Bevil’s lab investigates the incorporation of regional anesthesia techniques in the perioperative treatment of pain to improve outcomes and uncover patients’ understanding of their pain and postsurgical experiences. In evaluating the impact of quadratus lumborum block on the recovery profile of ventral hernia repair patients, she aims to increase the understanding of a relatively new regional technique for postoperative analgesia and which procedure types may benefit from this block.
Guelay Bilen-Rosas, MD Laboratory
The Bilen-Rosas lab’s mission and passion are to find solutions to improve care and prevent catastrophic outcomes. Upon discovering a novel approach to measuring airflow and volume using pulsed wave Doppler, Dr. Bilen-Rosas formed a multidisciplinary team to investigate. The lab is now developing a clinically useful respiratory monitoring device that could prevent or mitigate decompensation due to sedation-related respiratory compromise.
Zachary Campbell, PhD Laboratory
Dr. Campbell’s laboratory explores how RNAs are recognized and subsequently controlled. Research focuses on understanding how post-transcriptional controls contribute to persistent changes in neuronal activity. These changes are integral in a range of key biological processes, such as long-term changes in the activity of sensory neurons that detect and relay pain signals. Accordingly, disruption of the underlying molecular mechanisms that drive plasticity may provide new ways to prevent the onset of chronic pain states.
Molly Groose, MD Laboratory
Dr. Groose’s research focuses on anesthesiologists’ pivotal role in perioperative management to optimize outcomes of liver transplantation. Liver transplants improve survival and reduce symptom burden, but pose a significant risk of adverse events. Anesthesiologists decide who receives transplants and whose care to optimize, and manage intraoperative and immediate postoperative care. Given the scarcity of liver allografts, improving recipient outcomes and graft survival is crucial.
William R. Hartman, MD, PhD Laboratory
Dr. Hartman’s current research focuses on quick implementation of therapy trial protocols to expeditiously bring novel treatments from the laboratory to the patient. Dr. Hartman concentrates on phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials. University of Wisconsin-Madison is ideal for these types of trials because of the efficient Office of Clinical Trials staffed with highly skilled and motivated coordinators.
Kirk Hogan, MD, JD Laboratory
Dr. Hogan investigates the effects of surgery and anesthesia on the mechanisms that turn genes on and off (“epigenetics”) in patients at risk for postoperative delirium and cognitive decline with a focus on accelerated onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Richard Lennertz, MD, PhD Laboratory
The Lennertz research group studies altered states of consciousness. Collaborative projects seek to understand postoperative delirium, the effects of anesthetic medications, and how psychedelics treat depression. The group also has an interest in acute perioperative pain and the transition to chronic pain.
Micah Long, MD, FCCM Laboratory
Dr. Micah Long hopes to improve the outcomes of organ transplant recipients by minimizing ischemia and reperfusion injury. He is developing a scoring system to better evaluate PGD after lung transplant and trialing ascorbic acid to treat ischemia and reperfusion injury in organ transplant.
K.A. Kelly McQueen, MD, MPH, FASA
Dr. McQueen focuses on studying infrastructure, anesthesia and surgical outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Her 25+ years of research and programming have improved access to surgery and safe anesthesia, patient safety, and patient outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America.
Robert A. Pearce, MD, PhD Laboratory
The Pearce laboratory seeks to understand the neurophysiological basis of memory suppression under general anesthesia. Research focuses primarily on inhibitory neurons and synapses in the hippocampus, a brain region that is essential for the formation of new memories. His laboratory’s current studies utilize genetic manipulations, brain slice electrophysiology, behavioral pharmacology, and large-scale optical imaging of cellular activity in freely exploring mice.
Elizabeth A. Townsend, MD, PhD Laboratory
Dr. Townsend’s laboratory research focuses on mechanisms of ongoing inflammation and inflammation resolution of the airways following an asthma exacerbation. Viral infections are the number one cause of adult asthma exacerbations and lead to increased asthma symptoms, inflammation, and airway remodeling. Some individuals have permanent loss of lung function following an exacerbation; however, there are few therapies to aid in recovery from an acute exacerbation aside from prednisone.
Benjamin Walker, MD Laboratory
Dr. Walker’s research is focused on pediatric perioperative pain management strategies. By studying risks and complications as part of national and international databases, and through direct clinical research at our institution, his goal is to find innovative approaches and protocols that maximize non-opioid techniques and improve care for the youngest patients.