Meeting Experts in Neuroanesthesia

Hana Nadeem

Since the pandemic, many events were missed including in-person conferences. The opportunity to network and connect with new friends and co-workers in the medical community was eliminated. Luckily, Odmara Barreto Chang, MD, PhD, kicked off the Meet the Experts Session on Neuroanesthesia by providing an incredible channel to network and gather with anesthesiologists and new attendees in the world of neuroscience.

She hosted this session and started by sharing her experiences and her journey in medicine. Having a background in neuroscience, Dr. Chang earned her MD and PhD in neuroscience at Stanford University and graduated from the University of California, San Francisco, Anesthesia and Perioperative Care Residency Program. Her research focuses on the identification of elderly patients at risk for postoperative cognitive impairment and works closely with the UCSF Memory and Aging Center to develop tools for identifying risk factors and for creating cognitive care pathways for these patients. The conversation sparked when a comparison of anesthesiology to a “recipe” was made. Dr. Chang explained how different anesthesiologists have unique approaches and how every patient is unique in their own way. She enlightened the role of anesthesiologists in adjusting the ingredients needed to ease patients’ pain while taking into consideration the different confounding factors and conditions associated.

Irene Osborn, MD, Director, Division of Neuro-Anesthesiology at Montefiore Medical Center, joined this interactive networking session and displayed her enthusiasm for the world of neuroanesthesia. She compared the different approaches being used in this field and talked about different interesting topics like craniotomy procedures and the challenges encountered in the OR. Yifan Xu, MD, PhD, a CA-4 at Oregon Health & Science University, also contributed to the chat by discussing her thought-provoking project on the effect of isoflurane on vasodilation in mice, the limitations encountered and her future plans.

The eagerness and passion shared among these healthcare workers was fully displayed during this session. Even though it was a short video session, each participant got to know the other attendees on a personal and professional level, despite being miles away. Emails were exchanged at the end of this virtual meet and greet with the hope of a reunion in person one day.