Research Division
Ralph Lydic, PhD
Bert La Du Professor
The Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan has a broad-based research program, conducting both basic laboratory work and an extensive array of subspecialty focused clinical research programs. The overall research program is under the direction of Ralph Lydic, PhD, and Alan Tait, PhD, Director of Clinical Research.
The basic science research program has a focused interest in the fundamental neurophysiologic understanding of sleep and how it affects memory, learning, and immune response; and how it is affected by medications including opioids and anesthetics. This work is being supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH), National Institute of Mental Health (NIHMH) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
The overall clinical research program is coordinated through the Anesthesia Clinical Research Committee (ACRC), which meets bi-weekly to review and approve clinical research studies. The ACRC is composed of faculty and the clinical research support team, comprised of research nurses, assistants, and IT specialists. This team supports the research activities of the faculty, fellows, and residents. There are well-formed clinical research programs in Ambulatory Anesthesia, Cardiac Anesthesia, Critical Care, Neuroanesthesia, Obstetrical Anesthesia, Outcomes Research, Pain Management, and Pediatric Anesthesia.
The strength of our Perioperative Outcomes Research Program is our long-standing history in the development of perioperative information systems. The current perioperative system marketed by General Electric, Centricity ©, was developed at the University of Michigan and has allowed the department to accumulate a large granular clinical dataset available for research queries by any department member. A review of the ACRC studies will illustrate the depth and breadth of the clinical research program.
Each summer the Department of Anesthesia hosts a breakfast research meeting during which basic and clinical investigators interact and present their most recent findings.
"A key programmatic goal," Lydic said, "is to eliminate barriers and enhance interaction between basic and clinical research. This unified research initiative is consistent with the U-M Mission Statement and is essential for maintaining a leadership role in anesthesiology." Anesthesiology researchers have a consistent record of outstanding support from The National Institutes of Health (NIH) for basic studies aiming to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms ranging from cytocrome P450 to the neurobiology of sleep, mechanisms of anesthetic action, cytokines, learning and memory, pain, and energy metabolism."