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Message from the Chair
Dear Alumni and Friends of UW APM,
Welcome to the spring edition of The Insider newsletter! I’m pleased to share recent departmental milestones, celebrate accomplishments, and highlight news across our education, research, and clinical missions. As you’ll see, the first quarter of the year has been an especially active one.
You may notice this issue looks different from previous editions. To improve accessibility, we are piloting a new format aligned with University of Washington ADA standards. We appreciate your flexibility and welcome your feedback. If you prefer or require a printed copy of any article, please contact our communications team.
I’d like to begin with education, and specifically our residents. This spring, we reviewed a remarkable portfolio of research papers, quality improvement projects, abstracts, and case reports submitted by 23 of our trainees – nearly a quarter of our residency program. Many of these submissions are headed to the Western Anesthesia Residents Research Conference (WARC) at UC Davis this May. With the help of donor-supported discretionary funds, we are proud to support more residents traveling to WARC this year than ever before.
Educational innovation also remains a departmental priority. Through our brand-new partnership with the Seattle-based company Vantari VR, we are actively integrating virtual reality (VR) into resident training. In March, Dr. John Mitchell from Henry Ford Health joined us as a visiting Grand Rounds speaker, introducing the platform’s full capabilities and highlighting the many benefits of integrating VR into teaching and training.
March also marked our inaugural Dr. Thomas Hornbein Memorial Lecture, an annual event supporting a visiting professor dedicated to meaningful trainee engagement and made possible by the generosity of our donors. Our first guest, Dr. Michael Grocott (University of Southampton), shared both pioneering research and personal reflections on high-altitude physiology and mountaineering.
Another major departmental highlight is the establishment of our second endowed chair – the Laura Cheney Endowed Chair in Patient Safety. Thanks to the continued generosity of former department chair Dr. Fred Cheney and his late wife, Pi Cheney, we are pleased to announce Dr. Andrea Vannucci as the inaugural holder of the Laura Cheney Endowed Chair and our department’s new Vice Chair for Quality & Patient Safety.
Finally, we were honored to host the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Association of University Anesthesiologists on campus in late March, featuring outstanding lectures, including a keynote by UW Nobel Laureate Dr. David Baker and a presentation by our own Dr. Phil Morgan.
Thank you for staying connected with the UW Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine. I hope you enjoy this spring edition of The Insider and welcome your feedback. I wish you a wonderful spring and summer and look forward to reconnecting in the fall.
G. Burkhard Mackensen, MD, PhD, FASE, FSCAI
Allan J. Treuer Endowed Professor & Chair
Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine
University of Washington
Vantari VR establishes Anesthesiology Center of Excellence with UW Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine
New endowed chair to foster transdisciplinary collaboration in pain research and care, delivering more hope and options to patients
