Pediatric Anesthesia Research

The pediatric anesthesiology research division is comprised of an enthusiastic team of researchers. In addition to faculty investigators, our team includes full-time nurses, temporary research assistants and secretarial staff. Our team also includes students from the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). The overall mission of the research team is to develop scientific and ethically sound studies that provide evidence toward improving the safe and effective care of children and advancing the clinical practice of anesthesiology. Residents and medical students have the opportunity to become involved in any number of ongoing projects in the following focus areas:

Informed Consent

This group investigates the process of informed consent for medical research involving children with the goal of improving parental and child understanding.

Pain

This group addresses issues of pain assessment and management in children. The team developed an observational tool that is widely used to assess pain in young children and the cognitively impaired who cannot self-support their pain. Several faculty members have conducted studies to evaluate pain management techniques in children with the goal of improving the comfort and safety of analgesia practices in pediatric patient care.

Postoperative Outcomes and Clinical Trials

This group focuses on outcomes such as airway events and postoperative nausea and vomiting in children undergoing general anesthesia.

Sedation, Agitation and Depth of Anesthesia

This group focuses on promoting safe care to sedated and anesthetized children, with an emphasis on patient monitoring.

Olubukola Nafiu, M.D.

Director of Pediatric Anesthesia Research