The long and successful history of research in the Department of Anesthesiology at Duke University Medical Center has resulted in substantial advancement in patient care within the field of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine. Our success can be attributed to a leadership committed to the academic mission, a long track record of funding from established sources, and the capacity to attract the brightest faculty to a unique environment of opportunity and collaboration at Duke. Funding sources have included the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research, International Anesthesia Research Society, Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, and the pharmaceutical and device industry.

In recent years, budgetary priorities of the federal government have changed, leading to diminished levels of funding for the National Institutes of Health, the largest provider of long-term financial support to researchers. Consequently, the avenues to secure funding for the continuation of established programs and for the initiation of new projects have dwindled.

The Department of Anesthesiology has many areas of research focus as we provide anesthetic care to the full spectrum of surgical patients ranging from pediatric to geriatric. Although all subspecialties in anesthesiology (e.g. pediatric, women’s, cardiac, pain, basic science) have research programs, some arenas have had a longer history and track record within the Department.

For example, the long-term objective of the multidisciplinary Neurological Outcome Research Group (NORG), comprising anesthesiologists, surgeons, perfusionists, neurologists, and behavioral psychologists, is to understand the mechanisms underlying neurologic and cognitive dysfunction after surgery and to reduce the incidence of these devastating outcomes.

NORG has performed multiple investigations assessing both cognitive decline after surgery and the predictors of this decline. Most recently, these investigators have completed important studies to assess:

(1) The longitudinal (five-year follow-up) effect of cognitive dysfunction after cardiac surgery.

(2) The role of genetics in modulating cognitive decline.

(3) The efficacy of perioperative interventions such as temperature management, blood transfusion, and drug therapy to prevent cognitive injury.

Although there is a need for financial support in all areas of research, it is our desire to raise philanthropic support for those programs that have been successful but are now in danger of having to reduce activity because of declining federal support. These philanthropic efforts will also help initiate new programs that are most likely to succeed in generating independent federal funding.