Our department offers a NIH-funded research fellowship program (T32), which is available in less than ten academic anesthesiology departments in the U.S. The goal of this program is to provide training in scientific investigations to anesthesiologists who wish to become independent physician-scientists.

There are more than 15 participating faculty members representing a wide range of research interests in a variety of scientific and clinical disciplines. These faculty members are NIH-funded investigators within the Department of Anesthesiology or in basic science departments on the Columbia University Health Sciences campus. Fellows are expected to make a commitment of a minimum of two years for training in the laboratory. During the initial period, fellows will familiarize themselves with the techniques used in the laboratory by participating in ongoing projects. Toward the end of the year, fellows will formulate an independent project with the advice and guidance of a mentor and the program director.

Program requirements include a course in ethics and policy in scientific research. The department holds a monthly research conference, at which all trainees present their research progress and results. Additional educational programs include a course in research design and statistics offered by the Medical Center and a monthly seminar series involving research and clinical fellows.

The track records of our past fellows have been spectacular in terms of continued extramural funding, and careers in academic anesthesiology. Over the past six years, fellows who have completed their T32 training have received FAER Starter Grants, FAER Young Investigator Awards, NIH K08 (Mentored Physician Scientist Awards) and NIH RO1 awards. All fellows who have completed their training have become faculty of the department.

The American Society of Anesthesiologists at the 2004 meeting presented the Presidential Scholar Award to one of our former fellows and now an Assistant Professor (Dr. H.T. Lee). This award recognizes young investigators who are doing particularly important work that will advance our specialty. In addition, that same year one of our Apgar Fellows and a resident, Dr. George Gallos, working with Dr. Lee won the American Society of Anesthesiologists Resident Research Contest, the Society of Critical Care Medicine Resident Research Contest and New York State Society of Anesthesiologists Resident Research Contest for his paper entitled “Local Anesthetics Reduce Mortality and Protect Against Renal and Hepatic Dysfunction in Murine Septic Peritonitis” (Anesthesiology 2004; 101: 902-911).

In 2005 Dr. Edmund Jooste, a resident in the Department of Anesthesiology at Columbia University working in the laboratory of Charles Emala, won first prize for the second year in a row in the Resident’s Research Contest of the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists Resident Research Contest for a manuscript entitled “Rapacuronium Augments Acetylcholine-induced Bronchoconstriction via Positive Allosteric interactions at the M3 Muscarinic Receptor” (Anesthesiology 2005; 103: 1195-1203).

In 2006, Dr. Hannah Wunsch, another of our Apgar Fellows and a resident in the department, won third prize in the American Society of Anesthesiologists Resident Research Contest for a manuscript entitled "Increased Mortality Associated with Acute Respiratory Failure of Extra-pulmonary Origin". This research was presented at the 2006 annual meeting in Chicago in October.

In 2007, Minjae Kim, a resident in the Department of Anesthesiology at Columbia Univerity working in the laboratory of H.T. Lee won second prize in Resident’s Research Contest at the American Society of Anesthesiologists for a manuscript entitled “Isoflurane mediates protection from renal ischemia-reperfusion injury via sphingosine kinase and sphingosine-1-phosphate dependent pathways”.

We also offer research fellowships to individuals outside of the T32 NIH funded training program who do not have permanent resident visa status.

Virginia Apgar Scholars
Physicians interested in applying to our residency program may opt to apply for one of the Virginia Apgar Clinical or Research Scholar positions that are available each year. As a scholar, the resident would commit him/herself at the beginning of their residency to an additional two years of training either in a clinical area or in the research laboratory. An award is given during each clinical year (CA1, CA2 and CA3) to the residents chosen to be the Apgar Scholars of $15,000 per annum. Please see the Virginia Apgar page for more information.