​ASA Mentoring Grant Program

Mission

The mission of the Committee on Professional Diversity is to promote equal opportunities for all people in the anesthesiology profession. By doing so, the Committee not only strengthens the organization and the specialty, but more importantly, it helps to enhance patient care.

Duties

The duties of the Committee on Professional Diversity are:

• To facilitate equal opportunities to participate in all ASA leadership opportunities.
• To address issues that affect members’ professional development and career satisfaction.
• To promote an environment that encourages personal well-being and contentment as caring physicians, productive professionals and responsible family members.

Call for Proposals

The ASA Committee on Professional Diversity announces its annual call for proposals for the ASA Mentoring Grant Program in the spring of each year. The program provides funding up to $5,000 to mentor/mentee pairs who submit a project that addresses the goals of the Committee on Professional Diversity. The project may be oriented to research, education, or a political advocacy initiative that clearly speaks to the mission and duties of the ASA Committee on Professional Diversity.

For questions or comments, please contact DiversityMentor@asahq.org to reach Kate Ruberry or Maggie Bradach, staff liaisons for CPD.

The Mentoring Grant Program is funded in part by ASA Industry Supporters: CAE Healthcare/Elevate, Edwards, GE Healthcare, Heron Therapeutics, Masimo, Medtronic, Pacira Biosciences, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

2026 Recipients

Shyamal Asher, MD, MBA, FASA / Venkatsai Bellala, BS
The AIG Pipeline Initiative: Advancing Diversity and Disability Representation in Anesthesiology

Candace Chang, MD / Colton Gardner, BS
Developing a Sustainable Airway Simulation Curriculum for Anesthesia Providers in The Gambia

Caryl Bailey, MD / Sydney Mance, BS
Time-to-Enteral Nutrition and Outcomes Across Critical Illness Phenotypes: A Dose-Response Analysis Using MIMIC-IV

Odmara Barreto Chang, MD, PhD / Victoria Liu
Characterizing Gaps in Geriatric Perioperative Education Among Anesthesia Trainees: A National Mixed-Methods Study

Govind Rangrass, MD, FASA / Maximilian Schmidt-Bailey
Equity in Access to Anesthesia Care Team Models

Alyssa Brzenski, MD, FASA / Lauren Cueto, MPH, BA
Bridging Borders: Expanding Access to Bi-directional Anesthesiology Mentorship, Cross-Cultural Learning, and Education for Medical Trainees at the U.S.-Mexico Border

Mark C. Bicket, MD, PhD, FASA / Rebecca Nika Tsai, MS
Changing the Lens: An Arts-Based Approach to Reducing Opioid-Use Stigma in Surgical Care

Mohammed Mushtaq Ahmed Hakim, MD / Amita Dutt, BS
Assessing Educational Gaps in Culturally Responsive Labor Epidural Counseling Among Anesthesiology Trainees

Franklin Chiao, MD, MBA, MS, MSc, FASA / Annieka Reno, BS
Development and Accessibility Evaluation of a Multilingual Labor Epidural Education Toolkit for Underserved Obstetric Patient Populations

Lori-Ann Oliver, MD / Seryna Ayala, BS
From Exposure to Opportunity: Building the Future Anesthesiology Workforce in South Texas

Sara Nikravan, MD, FASE, FCCM / Deeya Sharma, BS
Assessing Cardiac Ultrasound Education and Learner Preparedness for Breasted Patients

Odmara Barreto Chang, MD, PhD / Antonio Almazan, BS & Isaac Avila-Vargas, BA
Baseline Cognitive Assessment and Social Determinants of Health as Predictors of Postoperative Delirium and Recovery Outcomes in Diverse Populations

Christopher Fadumiye, MD, FASA / Obiajulu Ozumba, DO
Improving Labor Analgesia in Accra, Ghana

2025 Recipients

Cheng-Hao Chen, MD / Akshar Patel
A Patient-Focused Comparative Analysis of Large Language Models in Cardiac Surgery and Anesthesia Education

Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, FASA, FAMIA, FCPP / Geoffrey Carl Rodriguez / Amer Mohiuddin
Advancing Equity in Military Aviation:  PSQI-Based Analysis of Sleep, Pain, and Recovery in Military Fighter Pilots

Antonio Hernandez Conte, MD, MBA, FASA / Travis Reece-Nguyen, MD, MPH, FAAP, FASA / Zeuz Islas
Affirming Anesthesia: Advancing LGBTQ+ Affirming Perioperative Care Through Provider Education and Quality Improvement

Tracey Straker, MD, MS, MPH, CBA, FASA / Mitaire Erhieyovwe
Anesthesia Ready: Preparing Non - Traditional Medical Students for Anesthesia Clinical Rotations

Nandini Panlaniappa, MD, BA / Oscar De La Rosa
Assessment of perioperative language services and provider and staff experiences with language services at ZSFG

Stephen Estime, MD / Miguel Gonzalez
Association between Academic Impact and Top Influencers within Anesthesiology Across Instagram, X, TikTok, and YouTube

Stephanie Bradley, MD, MPH / Vivian Porche, MD / Lauren Simmons / Shweta Mohapatra
Beyond the Mask: A Holistic Introduction to Anesthesiology through Vertical Mentorship and Immersive Innovation

Jenny Pennycuff, MD / Dominique Wreh, MD
Black Women in Academic Anesthesiology

Ralf Gebhard, MD, FASA / Sonia Singh
Counseling Intervention to Improve Health Literacy in Hispanic Patients Hospitalized for Acute Pain

Ludwig Lin, MD, DABA, CCM / Ashley Vincent, MD
Creating and Validating Bias Free Trainee Performance Evaluations

Connie Tran, MD, FASA / Abigail Balkin / Siena Blackwell
Empowering and Educating Underserved Women through Basic Life Support (BLS) Training

Shyamal Asher, MD, MBA, FASA / Anthony Barisano
Enhancement of Perioperative Understanding of Anesthesia Procedures Among Non-English Proficient Patients

Lois Connolly, MD FASA FACHE / Chelsea Willie, MD / Aishwarya Nugooru, MD
Escaping Bias: Integrating Equity-Centered Simulation Training into Perioperative Anesthesiology Education

Mark Bicket, MD / Ipsit Shah
Evaluating Moderators and Mediators of the Association Between Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and Postoperative Outcomes

Nakeisha Pierre, MD, FASA / Ruben Azocar, MD, MHCM, FASA, FCCM, FACHE / Christopher Mitry / Diana Hanif Garces, MD
Expanding Equitable Access to Clinical Training & Medical School Preparedness: The H.E.A.L. Mentorship Initiative

Teresa Mulaikal, MD / Richard Chao, MD
Health Heroes Medical Education Program Introducing CPR and Medical Education to Underserved K-12 and College Students in the Bronx

Shyamal Asher, MD, MBA, FASA / Shani Williams
Holding Space: Understanding the Preoperative Experience Through Patient Narratives

John Sampson, MD / Giovanni Charles, MD
Improving Labor Analgesia in Ghana

John Sampson, MD / Deborah Schwengel, MD, MEd, FASA / Gifty Agyemang, MD
Improving Pediatric Anesthesia Outcomes in The Gambia through Equipment Modernization and Outcome Monitoring

Mary Arthur, MD, MPH / Meghna Kamath / Sri Varsha Pulijal, MBBS
Is there a Relationship Between the Intraoperative Cerebral Oxygen Saturations and Race?

Maximilian Schaefer, MD, PhD / Nancy Oriol, MD / Luca Johann Wachtendorf, MD / Elena Ahrens
The association between patients’ primary language and the risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting: A hospital registry study from a tertiary academic medical center in the United States of America

Connie Tran, MD, FASA / Siena Blackwell / Abigail Balkin
Women in Anesthesiology: A Mentorship Program Connecting Faculty and Medical Students

Trevor Sutton, MD, MBA / Maria Guerrero
Workplace Incivility in the Cardiothoracic Operating Room and Intensive Care Unit: A Cross-Sectional Survey