The Mitchell P. Fink Endowed Chair in Critical Care Medicine

The Department of Critical Care Medicine requested and just recently received an endowed chair in critical care medicine. It was decided that the inaugural recipient of The Mitchell P. Fink Chair in Critical Care Medicine should be Derek C. Angus, MD, MPH, FRCP, effective November 1, 2009. Being selected for a named chair is one of the highest honors that the university can bestow on a faculty member. Being the inaugural recipient recognizes and rewards Dr. Angus for the quality and impact of his work and shows confidence in his future accomplishments and contributions to critical care medicine, the University and to society. Congratulations! [Photo - Drs. Angus and Fink]

 

Vietnam Emergency Medicine Symposium, March 2010

David Crippen, MD, FCCM has been invited to speak for the first Vietnam Emergency Medicine Symposium at the Hue College of Medicine, the third largest medical school in Vietnam. This project will involve physicians from the US, Australia and Vietnam... READ MORE

Pitt Faculty presents at CHEST 2009

CHEST 2009, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA.  October 31 - November 5, 2009.
David T. Huang, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Critical Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine, presented two lectures entitled "Perspectives on Outcomes of Research and Education in Critical Care: The Role of Industry Support,"  and "How Can We Use Serum Markers To Optimize Management of Community Respiratory Tract Infections?"  Dr. Huang highlighted the complex and broad role of industry in medical research and education, and discussed the potential value of biomarkers in risk prediction and antimicrobial stewardship, based on research from the GenIMS study, CAPNETZ (German CAP surveillance study), and the multiple procalcitonin trials from Switzerland.

 

The 2nd Annual CRRTeams Conference held November 9-10 at the Sheraton Station Square

Over 170 attendees participated in the conference directed by Dr. John Kellum, from the Department of Critical Care Medicine, Dr. Paul Palevski, from the Renal Division and Dr. Kim Whiteman from the School of Nursing. Dr. Claudio Ronco from San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy was the International Course Director.

Significant advances have occurred in the care of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) has become standard of care... READ MORE

Janice Knapp steps down after almost 11 years at the helm of CCM Administrative Support

Janice Knapp will be leaving the Department at the end of January 2010 after many years as the Administrative Support leader for our Department. Ms. Knapp’s academic administrative career is quite impressive. She came back home to Pittsburgh in 1989 after working at the University of Minnesota for 21 years. She initially worked in the Financial Services Division of Allegheny General Hospital. Realizing that her interest lay primarily in clinical affairs, she first moved into the Department of Anesthesiology at AGH and then in 1995 to University of Pittsburgh Physicians in a senior administrative role at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Importantly for us.... READ MORE

The Ottawa Heart Institute’s Wynands Endowed Lectureship in Cardiac Anesthesia given by
Dr. Michael Pinsky

Professor Michael R. Pinsky gave the 2009 Endowed Wynands Visiting Lectureship at the Ottawa Heart Institute on October 21, 2009.  The lectureship honors one of the pioneers of Canadian Cardiac Anesthesiology.  Dr. Pinsky’s lecture was entitled “Use of minimally invasive monitoring to improve outcomes from cardiac surgery.”
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Dr. Robert Clark Appointed Chief of Division of Pediatric Ciritical Care Medicine

Robert S.B Clark, MD has been appointed Chief of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Clark attended medical school at the Medical College of Wisconsin and completed residency training in pediatrics at the University of Utah. He began his training in pediatric critical care at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 1992.  He joined the faculty in 1995, achieving tenure in 2002.
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Ake Grenvik, MD, PhD retires from the Department of Critical Care Medicine

Ake N.A. Grenvik, M.D., PhD, FCCM, Distinguished Service Professor of Critical Care Medicine, Professor of Anesthesiology, Medicine & Surgery, retired on June 30, 2009 after 40 years of years of service to the critical care community and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
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The Psychological Impact of Transplantation:
How to Improve Care to Donors, Recipients and Family Members

The presenter, Cynthia Gries, MD, MSc is an Assistant Professor, in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Washington Medical Center.  Her main area of research interest surrounds building a research program that focuses on improving long-term outcomes in lung transplant patients. She is currently conducting a longitudinal study to evaluate the burden of psychological disease and its effects on medical adherence. She is also focused on improving long-term outcomes by improving the selection criteria for lung allocation. Dr. Gries presented her findings that showed that the burden of depressive and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms was associated with lower medical adherence.  In addition, she presented some preliminary data that suggested that the prevalence of PTSD and depression was high in lung transplant caregivers and may be associated with the quality of the dying process.  After the presentation was finished, Dr. Gries’ thoughtful comments on ethical issues related to donation after cardiac determination of death sparked vibrant discussion among those in attendance.

2008–2009 Departmental Annual Report Now Available On-Line

The Critical Care Medicine Department’s annual report for academic year 2008–2009 is available for viewing on-line.  This report lists the clinical, education and research components of the department and includes several articles of specific faculty and their research interests.  All faculty and fellows activities are also listed along with individual faculty research projects and recent publications.  We believe that this report reflects well the activities and direction of the department of last year. We encourage you to read it.

View the annual report. CLICK HERE

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Moves To A New Location!

All the hands were on deck on May 2nd, 2009 as Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh moved to its new location in Lawrenceville. The growing inpatient and outpatient services of Children’s Hospital had been literally overflowing the outdated Oakland building they had occupied for nearly a century.  The spacious and technologically sophisticated new campus at Lawrenceville reunited the hospital and outpatient clinics, now 25% larger, with a 300,000 square foot John G. Rangos, Sr. Research Center and administrative and faculty office buildings together on a 10 acre site.
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