Congratulations to the 2026 Kosaka Best Abstract Award Winners!

Selected from a highly competitive pool of more than 860 submissions, nine exceptional finalists took the stage at the Kosaka Best Abstracts Session on Sunday, May 3, during the 2026 Annual Meeting presented by IARS and SOCCA. Showcasing bold, forward-thinking research across anesthesiology and patient care, these emerging and established investigators delivered compelling oral presentations spanning three key areas: basic science, clinical research, and scholar-led studies. Each presentation offered a dynamic deep dive into innovative findings, sparking engaging discussion and insightful questions from an invested audience.

Following their presentations, the expert judges, Daniel I. McIsaac, MD, MPH, FRCPC, IARS Annual Meeting Oversight Committee, board member and chair in innovative perioperative care, faculty of medicine at University of Ottawa and a scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Yasuko Nagasaka, MD, PhD, professor in anesthesia, chair at Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan, and representative for the Japan Society of Clinical Anesthesia (JSCA); and Santhanam Suresh, MD, MBA, FASA, FAAP, executive vice chair, and professor, anesthesiology and perioperative medicine, Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, deliberated and selected the awardees for each category. Congratulations to the three Kosaka Best Abstract Award Winners!

Tim Ting Han Jen, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, a staff anesthesiologist and acute pain service physician at St. Paul’s Hospital, and a clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was selected as the Top Clinical Research Award recipient for his study, “Analgesic Efficacy of Continuous Superficial Parasternal Intercostal Plane Blockade in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery with Median Sternotomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.”

The Top Basic Science Award was given to Mitsukuni Yoshida, MD, PhD, a resident/fellow in the Academic Scholar Advancement Program (ASAP) in the Department of Anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine, in St. Louis, MO, for his research on “Whole-Brain Single-Cell Resolution Activity Mapping Identifies Mammillary Body Circuit Failure Underlying Aging, Arousal Instability, and Potential Perioperative Cognitive Risk.”

Connie T. Yu, BS, a first-year medical student at Tufts University School of Medicine, in Boston, MA, was selected as the Top Scholars Abstract Award Recipient for her research on “Perioperative Effects of CN-105 Treatment on the Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteome.”

The winners from each category will receive a $500 prize to recognize their innovative work in their specialty. Stay tuned for interviews with these impressive investigators in Issue 6 on Friday, May 8 of The Daily Dose to learn more about their research and future aspirations.

The following finalists also presented the results of their leading-edge research:

Top Clinical Research Abstract Finalists

Neil Rens, MD, an anesthesia resident from Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, MA, outlined his research on “Projected Clinical Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Aprepitant for Post-Operative Nausea/Vomiting Prophylaxis.”

Aiman Suleiman, MD, MS, an attending physician and assistant professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, in New York, NY, reviewed his investigation on “Intraoperative Respiratory System Compliance Patterns and Postoperative Respiratory Complications: A Hospital Registry Study.”

Top Basic Science 

Antonello Penna, PhD, MD, an associate professor of anesthesiology, from Universidad de Chile, in Santiago, Chile, presented on “Altered Microglial–GABAergic Interactions and Npas4 Expression Are Associated With Stage-Dependent Changes in Propofol Sensitivity in 5XFAD Mice.”

Junfang Wu, PhD, a professor of anesthesiology, anatomy & neurobiology, from University of Maryland School of Medicine, in College Park, MD, covered research focused on “APOE4-Mediated Glial Lipid Dysregulation Disrupts Brain Circuitry and Exacerbates Neurological Dysfunction Following Isoflurane Exposure.”

Top Scholars Abstract Finalists

Nicolas Daccache, MD, a first-year anesthesiology resident, from the Université de Montréal, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, focused on research with “Safety and Recovery Profile of Patients following Inhalational Anesthesia versus Total Intravenous Anesthesia, with a Focus on Target Controlled Infusion versus Manual Administration.”

Luisa Udoh, a fifth-year medical student at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (LMU), in Munich, Germany, and a researcher for the Center for Anesthesia Research Excellence (CARE) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, in Boston, MA, outlined an investigation on “Changes in Intraoperative Rocuronium Vial Utilisation after the Introduction of Sugammadex and Related Financial Implications.”

The Kosaka Best Abstract Awards are supported by the Japan Society for Clinical Anesthesia (JSCA) and the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS). The founder of the JSCA, Dr. Futami Kosaka, started a cooperative relationship with IARS in 1990 and developed the foundation for today’s Kosaka Best Abstracts Session.