Clinical Research

Facilities

The University of Arizona Department of Anesthesiology performs clinical care, teaching, and research at four facilities: University Medical Center (UMC), Southern Arizona Veterans Administration Health Care Center (SAVAHCS), University Physicians Hospital at Kino (UPHK), and the University Physicians Surgicenter.  UMC, located on the main campus of the University of Arizona, is a 400-bed tertiary care hospital and Level-1 Trauma Center that draws patient referrals from throughout the Southwest. 

The Department of Anesthesiology employs 30 full-time faculty, many of whom are involved in either basic science or clinical research efforts.  Our research programs are supported by the NIH, as well as numerous private industry sources.  These programs produce a large number of peer-reviewed papers, presentations at national and international meetings, and visiting professorships. 

Clinical research is performed in the operating rooms at our various sites: 16 at UMC, 7 at SAVAHCS, four at UPHK, and two at the UPH Surgicenter.   In addition, the department provides attending services in the UMC Critical Care Units, also leading to clinical research in this field.  The main campus Arizona Health Sciences Center (AHSC) also includes a Clinical Research Unit for patient studies, an in-hospital laboratory for human volunteer studies, and an Animal Research Facility for both large and small animal studies.  Both UMC and SAVAHCS have clinical laboratory and radiology facilities that can perform complex tests or studies. 

Patient and volunteer human studies are reviewed and monitored by the University of Arizona Human Subjects Protection Program. 

Personnel

The UA College of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology has many faculty involved in clinical research which covers a broad base of anesthesia subspecialties. Investigators' subspecialties include cardiac, neuro, obstetric, pediatric, ambulatory, and chronic pain anesthesia management. The department currently employs two full-time research personnel with several years of experience conducting clinical studies and wet lab research.

Areas of Research

General Anesthesiology

• Evaluation of inhalation anesthetics
• pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
• biotransformation
• potential toxicity
• Evaluation of new intravenous anesthetics
• Evaluation of antiemetic agents for post anesthesia nausea and vomiting
• Studies evaluating intravenous anesthetic antagonists
• Efficacy and application of neuromuscular relaxant agents

Obstetric Anesthesia

• Influence of regional anesthetic techniques on maternal analgesia
• Evaluation of opioid/local anesthetic combination and dose on maternal analgesia
• Cardiovascular effects of regional anesthesia in pregnancy

Chronic Pain Management

• Management of chronic pain with the use of implantable devices
• Evaluation of the efficacy of new pharmacologic agents for the treatment of chronic pain

Engineering Section

• Evaluation of monitoring devices for oxygen delivery of cardiovascular function
• Investigation of new modalities to determine depth of anesthesia/awareness

Clinical Investigators

John J. Badal , MD

Steven J. Barker , MD , PhD

Stuart Hameroff , MD

Peter R. Lichtenthal , MD

Robert G. Loeb , MD

T. Philip Malan , MD , PhD

Wallace M. Nogami , MD

Charles W. Otto , MD

Craig M. Palmer , MD

Daniel R. Redford , MD