Research News

The interdisciplinary grant “Leveraging Inter-Individual Differences in Walking Pain and Impairment to Elucidate Whole-Person Mechanisms of Knee Osteoarthritis,” has received $4.9 million in total support and will run from September 19, 2025, through August 31, 2029.

Alex and Derrick, two exceptional second-year medical students, were selected to train in our department through the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) Medical Student Anesthesia Research Fellowship program.

The featured article by Drs. Keith Vogt, et al. explores how three sedative drugs—propofol, dexmedetomidine, and fentanyl—affect memory and pain perception in healthy young adults.

The work will be led by PI Dr. Senthil Sadhasivam and includes multidisciplinary co-investigators from the University of Pittsburgh, Beth Isreal Deaconess Medical Center, and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

The events took place on May 15–16, 2025, continuing a longstanding tradition of honoring the legacy of Peter Safar, MD, founding chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, and his wife, Eva.

With more than 200 attendees from across the region, the event was a celebration of interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in pain research, showcasing basic and clinical scientific work from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and Duquesne University.

Dr. Alter’s funded project aims to develop a wearable, noninvasive brain stimulation device that delivers real-time transcranial electrical stimulation to the motor cortex while patients with knee OA are walking.

The poster “Patient-Driven Opioid-Free Approach to Cancer Surgery,” presented by Heather Margonari, DNP, FNP-BC, won first place in the poster competition at the Advancements in Translational Science for Pain Management in Cancer Care Symposium, held at MD Anderson Cancer Center on May 9, 2025.

David Julius, PhD, 2021 Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, will give the Keynote Presentation “Gut Feelings: Probing Mechanisms of Visceral Pain” at the first Pain Day on May 7, 2025, an event co-organized by department investigators.

The project, led by principal investigator Keith M. Vogt, MD, PhD, FASA, aims to uncover the brain mechanisms underlying auriculotherapy’s effects on chronic low back pain.