Shaping Science and Enhancing Education: Celebrating FAER’s 40th Anniversary

Introduction History & Milestones Words from Past Presidents Grantee Testimonials Closing Thoughts & Thank You

April 3, 2026

Education and research are fundamental to the future of anesthesiology and patient care. The Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) has staunchly held this truth at the heart of its work over the years, and it remains a fundamental aspect of the Foundation’s mission to develop the next generation of physician-investigators. As FAER celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2026, we are thrilled to look back at the work carried out over the past four decades, hear from some of the leaders who helped shepherd these efforts, and highlight a range of incredible physician-investigators who have benefited from FAER support.

Note that the navigation bar at the beginning of this article and each section therein can be used to navigate between the different sections of this page. You can also read Dr. Emala’s article on FAER’s anniversary in the February 2026 issue of the ASA Monitor here.

"We are proud and honored to celebrate FAER’s 40th anniversary alongside the stellar grantees, program participants, volunteers, donors, and all those who have helped bring the Foundation to where it is today. As past grantees ourselves, it can feel surreal at times to now be helping lead FAER’s work and seeing how it has grown and evolved over the decades. However, a throughline has remained evident in FAER through it all: an unwavering dedication to education and science in our specialty, and the up-and-coming investigators who make it possible. We look forward to another 40 years of FAER success and supporting the aspiring investigators of today who will become the specialty’s leaders of tomorrow.”
- Max B. Kelz, MD, PhD, FAER President and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), and Charles W. Emala Sr., MS, MD, Chair of the FAER Board of Directors

Forty Years of FAER: History and Milestones

Introduction History & Milestones Words from Past Presidents Grantee Testimonials Closing Thoughts & Thank You

The following information was compiled from a broad range of historical FAER documents. Should any inaccuracies be apparent in the information below, please contact BramHarris@faer.org to help refine this look back at the Foundation’s history.

The seeds that would eventually grow into FAER were planted well before the Foundation’s official establishment, with ASA committee minutes as far back as 1937 recommending the formation of a research foundation. In 1972, these seeds began to take root in the form of the ASA’s Committee on Research. The Committee had a budget of $10,000 to distribute as grants to four to five skilled physician-investigators each year.1 Its early work also featured the review and awarding of the Burroughs-Wellcome and Parker B. Francis Fellowships. Despite the value these early grants represented, the scope of their impact was limited by the relatively humble pool of funds the Committee had available.

While working with the ASA’s Committee on Industry Relationships in the mid-1980s, Mr. Clifford Parrish of the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation reasserted the recommendation that the ASA develop an “arm’s-length foundation.”¹ Alongside the Committee on Research’s recommendations of the same, in the interest of improving funding for anesthesia education and research, the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research was officially founded on October 21, 1986, in Park Ridge, Illinois. The ASA served as the nascent Foundation’s principal sponsor via a grant of $100,000, and the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation and Parker B. Francis Foundation (now the Francis Family Foundation) provided further early foundational support.

In 1987, FAER held its first Board meeting at the Hilton San Francisco Airport Hotel and established its original offices in Park Ridge. Led by inaugural President Dr. William K. Hamilton, founding Board members included Drs. S. Craighead Alexander, George W.N. Eggers Jr., Gerald A. Gronert, Patricia A. Kapur, Richard I. Mazze, Edward D. Miller Jr., Michael F. Roizen, Alan D. Sessler, and Donald R. Stanski. These early FAER leaders – aided by administrative support from the ASA – promptly set to exploring new ways to raise money to expand the number of research grants the Foundation was able to award annually. One such effort was a mailing to ASA members soliciting their support through the sale of neckties and scarves. Sadly, copies of these earliest pieces of memorabilia have been lost over the decades.

1988 saw FAER welcome Dr. Martin Helrich as its first Executive Director and move its office to Baltimore, Maryland. That year alone, FAER awarded Research Starter Grants (RSG) to 17 talented researchers to the tune of over $200,000 – a far cry from the $10,000 available before its founding. The year also marked the establishment of FAER’s endowment fund to help ensure the Foundation’s long-term viability and success.

This trend of growth – both in funds and programs available – would continue to build over the next 10 years. In 1989, FAER introduced its Resident Scholar Program (RSP). Co-sponsored by the ASA, the program sponsored residents’ participation in the annual ANESTHESIOLOGY^® meeting – which continues to this day. In 1990, the Foundation awarded its first Educational Research Grant (ERG) – perhaps better known by the modern counterpart it evolved into, the Research in Education Grant (REG). And in 1991, FAER’s endowment fund surpassed $1 million!

After seven years of service in a role he originally accepted on a one-year trial basis, Dr. Martin Helrich was succeeded as Executive Director by his fellow founding Board member Dr. Alan Sessler in 1995. This transition in leadership came coupled with a transition in offices as FAER moved from Baltimore to join Dr. Sessler at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

By the time of its 10th anniversary in 1996, FAER had sponsored over 200 investigators through New / Young Investigator Awards (NIA), Anesthesiology Research Fellowships, and the previously noted RSGs and ERGs. Each grant was thoroughly vetted by the ASA’s Committee on Research using NIH-style peer review standards – a policy that remains in effect today and continues to ensure the scientific merit of all FAER awards.

FAER celebrated another exciting milestone in 1998 when the Foundation awarded over $700,000 in grants in a single year – over triple what it awarded only a decade prior. With the addition of these funds, FAER officially surpassed $6 million in awarded grants since its founding. This investment in anesthesiology’s early-career investigators proved highly successful. These early FAER grantees went on to obtain over $100 million in subsequent funding, primarily from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This 17-to-1 return on investment remains a key metric for FAER’s success, and one in which the Foundation takes great pride.

2001 saw FAER introduce the annual Honorary Research Lecture at the year’s ANESTHESIOLOGY meeting, presented by inaugural lecturer and 1989 RSG awardee Dr. Debra Schwinn. The Honorary Lecture was established as means of recognizing outstanding scholarship by a scientist to encourage young anesthesiologists to pursue careers in research and teaching. FAER continues to host these lectures annually, though it was renamed in 2014.

Along with establishing the Honorary Research Lecture, 2001 also saw FAER refine its available grants. The Anesthesiology Research Fellowship was redubbed as the still-offered Research Fellowship Grant (RFG) and the Research Training Grant (RTG) was added to the catalogue of early-career opportunities.

In 2004, FAER’s catalogue of grants evolved further with the introduction of the two-year, $175,000 Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG). The MRTG formally incorporated mentorship from more experienced physicians and scientists into the grant structure. The years to come would see the MRTG grow into FAER’s flagship grant.

Aligning with this focus on mentorship – spearheaded in part by the Chair of the Foundation’s Mentoring Committee, Dr. John P. Kampine – FAER turned its attention to expanding support for and through mentors. Thus, the Academy of Anesthesia Mentors was formed. Now known as the Academy of Research Mentors in Anesthesiology (ARMA), the Academy was intended to serve both as a resource for mentors as well as those seeking mentorship themselves. ARMA has since grown from 23 members at its founding to over 100 experienced mentors as of 2026.

The mentorship momentum continued into 2005 with the creation of the Medical Student Anesthesia Research Fellowship (MSARF) as well as the FAER Research Symposium at ANESTHESIOLOGY that would serve as fellowship’s culmination. Participating students conducted eight weeks of research at a host department over the summer, then presented their findings at the symposium in October.
The program had 15 participants and 15 host departments in its first year and was intended to expose students to the practice of anesthesiology and research early in the hopes of enticing them to pursue this rewarding career path. This program has had tremendous success in accomplishing this goal since the program’s inception.

In 2007, along with updating its logo, FAER celebrated surpassing $20 million in research grants awarded. In just nine years, the Foundation had more than doubled total funds awarded since its founding. Similarly, the nine new grants awarded in 2008 comprised $1.33 million in funding compared to the $700,000 awarded a decade prior.

Seeking additional ways to honor exceptional mentors for their help nurturing future generations of researchers, in 2009 ARMA launched the Mentoring Excellence in Research Award. Presented annually during the Celebration of Research at ANESTHESIOLOGY, FAER and ARMA were pleased to celebrate Dr. David C. Warltier as the award’s inaugural recipient.

In 2010, FAER launched the Society for Anesthesia Education and Research (SAER) as a mechanism for academic departments to support FAER’s mission through annual membership dues. With over 60 members as of 2026, SAER provides a crucial source of funding for the many grantees and program participants who pass through the Foundation’s doors.

By FAER’s 25th anniversary in 2011, the Foundation was approaching $26 million in total grant funding awarded to more than 500 physician-scientists – over 180 of whom had gone on to receive NIH funding.
The year also featured FAER’s first GEMSSTAR grant, providing supplementary professional development support to recipients of the National Institute on Aging’s (NIA) Grant for Early Medical/Surgical Specialists’ Transition to Aging Research (GEMSSTAR).

In 2013, FAER mourned the passing of its lasting friend and original Executive Director Dr. Martin Helrich. In recognition of his incredible impact and legacy, FAER officially renamed its Honorary Research Lecture to the FAER-Helrich Research Lecture in 2014. The Foundation looks forward to current FAER Board member and 1992 NIA awardee Dr. Hugh Hemmings’ Helrich Lecture at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2026.

In 2015, FAER moved its offices from Rochester to join the ASA at its newly built headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois, where the Foundation’s offices remain. The year also marked the 10-year anniversary of the MSARF program. In the years since its introduction, more than 400 students had participated in MSARF, with 51 students matched to 31 host departments in 2015 alone – over triple the students and twice the hosts compared to its founding year in 2005. A survey that year also showed that 45% of those who took part in the Resident Scholar Program continued to work in academic anesthesiology compared to the 18% national average.²

FAER’s grant catalogue expanded further with the introduction of the Transition to Independence Grant (TIG) in 2017. Intended as a bridge grant, the TIG supports MRTG awardees who recently completed their FAER grant and are working to revise and resubmit applications for independent funding. 2018 then saw the Foundation continue its tradition of growing its funding for research grants each decade, with $1.75 million awarded to 14 early-career investigators that year.

2019 proved something of a banner year for FAER grants, grantees, and programs. Funding for the MRTG was increased by 43% from $175,000 to $250,000 to account for growing costs while maintaining the level of support needed for success. FAER teamed with the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) and the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) – a fellow ASA related foundation – to offer the ABA-FAER Research in Education Grant (REG) and APSF-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG).

All this came on top of the first-ever MRTG Meeting held in Washington, DC in the spring. This new annual meeting brought together MRTG awardees and thought-leaders in anesthesiology for two-and-a-half days of career development, networking, and mock study sections. The meeting has since grown to also welcome awardees and leaders from the International Society of Anesthesiologists (IARS).

Meanwhile, FAER teamed with the Early-Stage Anesthesiology Scholars (eSAS) to present a refreshed Research Symposium at ANESTHESIOLOGY, renamed to the FAER/eSAS: A Day for New Researchers. 2019 also marked the introduction of the Foundation’s T35 Medical Student Program, inviting anesthesiology departments to send one of their T35 students to attend ANESTHESIOLOGY and present at A Day for New Researchers.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the uncertainty and risk that came with it, many of the in-person events FAER offered were shuttered for the time, including the MRTG Meeting and A Day for New Researchers. The need to quarantine also impacted grantees as access to labs became more restricted. However, in an effort to minimize the impact this would have on its investigators, FAER offered no-cost extensions to help accommodate its grantees. Simultaneously, FAER adapted the year’s MSARF program to a virtual format to continue its support for the talented students matched into the program. Along with these pivots, 2020 marked the creation of the Academic Champions program, with Champions serving as a conduit between FAER and their departments.

In 2021, just as FAER surpassed $50 million in grants and programs awarded, the Association of University Anesthesiologists (AUA) surpassed $1 million in total giving to FAER. The year also saw the Foundation recognize retiring NIH program official Dr. Alison Cole during the Friends of FAER reception at ANESTHESIOLOGY for her expansive support for anesthesiology’s physician-scientists pursuing NIH funding. This recognition for individuals who have had broad impact on the world of anesthesiology research and its investigators became known as the Friend of FAER Honor and is now awarded annually during the reception.

2022 featured the Foundation’s first Academic Giving Competition (AGC). Envisioned as a fun, friendly way for academic anesthesiology departments around the country to compete to see whose faculty could raise the most money in support of education, research, and FAER. The AGC has since become an annual event and has evolved to welcome private practice groups in on the fun as well.

The Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) partnered with FAER in 2023 to offer the SOAP-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG). That year also saw FAER introduce its Investigators on the Elevator series, with FAER grantees recording short, elevator-pitch style recordings describing their FAER-funded research. FAER’s catalogue of offerings expanded yet again in 2024 with FAER’s endowment of the FAER NAM Fellowship at the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), the first such fellowship intended specifically for anesthesiologists, and the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), sponsoring MD/PhD or DO PhD to attend ANESTHESIOLOGY and present at FAER/eSAS: A Day for New Researchers.

2025 featured a plethora of exciting new milestones and offerings. The Advanced Medical Student Research Fellowship (AMSRF) was created as an expansion on the MSARF program, allowing past participants up to a year of additional mentored research time. In the world of grants, the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) became the latest organization to team with FAER for a co-sponsored grant in the form of the SPA-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG).
Recognizing growing challenges to research support, the flagship MRTG was updated to increase funding to $300,000 and minimum required protected time reduced to 60%. After 39 years, FAER officially surpassed $60 million in grants and programs awarded, with $2.93 million in grants awarded to 13 physician-scientists that year alone.

Even as FAER celebrates its history and all those who have helped bring it to where it is in 2026, the latest batch of grant applications are currently being reviewed, invitations for this year’s RSP have been sent, and 86 students were matched to 45 host sites for MSARF 2026. We are excited to build further on the 40 years of success FAER has enjoyed as we work hard to develop the next generation of physician-investigators.

Looking to Our Leaders: Hearing from Past FAER Presidents

Introduction History & Milestones Words from Past Presidents Grantee Testimonials Closing Thoughts & Thank You

FAER has benefited greatly from dedicated, visionary leaders over the past four decades. The broad range of skills, expertise, and perspectives these leaders have brought to bear on the Foundation’s behalf have proven instrumental in helping offer anesthesiology’s up-and-coming physician-scientists the best support possible. In recognition of this year’s anniversary, we reached out to past FAER Presidents to get their thoughts on their time with the Foundation and its work. We are pleased to share their responses below.

You can view FAER’s current Board members and past presidents here, and current committee members here.

“I served on the inaugural FAER Board of Directors from 1986–1994, as Vice President from 1992–1993 and President from 1993-1994, when the Directors rotated annually as President. As inaugural Directors, we developed the award program structure and amounts, application and scientific review processes, grant outcome reporting process, and served on review committees. We created and executed a fund-raising strategy beyond the generous ASA annual commitment, and a publicity strategy to attract applicants and donors. As Chair of the FAER Committee for the ASA Annual Meeting from 1989–1994, I partnered with Martin Helrich, MD, to create and staff that initial series of small FAER exhibitor booths to share FAER’s exciting transformative mission with ASA members, potential grant applicants, and industry partners.

“Forty years later, I have been thrilled to witness the outstanding success of FAER programs and their associated impact on participants’ subsequent careers.”
- Patricia A. Kapur, MD | FAER President (1993 – 1994)

 “As I look back on my time as President and Chairman of the Board of FAER, it was a period of significant innovation in the grant structure with the recognition of the importance of mentoring in our specialty. With leadership provided by Drs. Ron Miller and John Kampine, we restructured our grants and initiated the Mentored Research Training Grant, the Research in Education Grant, and the establishment of the Academy of Anesthesia Mentors. These steps increased the awareness of the role of mentors and the importance of education in the Foundation’s responsibility to Anesthesiology.”

“Although active in academic medicine, I am not a researcher by training or activity. However, FAER’s message that science will produce the means to achieve better patient outcomes has always resonated with me. ASA has several foundations (e.g. APSF, Wood Library Museum, etc.), but FAER is the primary ASA foundation that supports research in anesthesiology. When I had the opportunity to join the FAER Board of Directors in 2005, I was thrilled to be asked. I found myself surrounded by the most dynamic, enthusiastic, hard-working group of people who were intent on fulfilling FAER’s mission of supporting and developing physician-scientists in Anesthesiology. Among the Board members, whether your skillset was in fundraising and development, grant review, or outreach to other researchers and the broader Anesthesiology community, everyone participated with enthusiasm. It was an honor to be a part of it all for 12 years.”
- Joy L. Hawkins, MD, FASA | FAER President (2015 – 2016)

“FAER has evolved over 40 years from providing small resources for many individuals to providing many resources for fewer ones. This shift, driven by strong strategic processes and an outstanding Board of Directors, more effectively builds community and provides experiences for awardees from FAER and IARS programs in both giving and receiving mentoring and how to face the increasing challenges of a career as a physician-scientist. Ask a FAER awardee how their FAER experience affected them, and they talk about hope, confirmation, confidence, and, under it all, gratitude.”
- James C. Eisenach, MD | FAER President (2016-2023)

How Did FAER Funding Help Shape Your Research Career?

Introduction History & Milestones Words from Past Presidents Grantee Testimonials Closing Thoughts & Thank You

While data helps show FAER’s accomplishments in nurturing science, education, and investigators in anesthesiology, it lacks the personal connection that can prove so valuable to one’s success. Recognizing this, to help celebrate the Foundation’s anniversary and the many, many exceptional researchers who have “graduated” from FAER, we reached out to our past grantees to ask how FAER has helped shape their research careers. We are delighted to share their responses below.

You can view project abstracts from FAER grantees from 2016 – 2025 on our Who We Are Funding pages, watch grantee elevator pitch videos here, and download a list of all grantees from 1973 – 2025 here.

“I finished my residency and Fellowship in pediatric cardiac anesthesiology at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 1981. In the 70’s and 80’s, the cardiac surgical residents at the Harvard Medical Schools were required to spend a year in basic science. The Chief of Anaesthesiology and Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Children’s Hospital recommended I spend a year of learning science to expand my knowledge as a physician-scientist. Professor of Anaesthesiology and Pharmacology, Gary R. Strichartz, PhD was my new mentor and trained me in ‘biochemistry’ (now called neuroscience). Dr. Strichartz has contributed significantly to the understanding of pain management and the pharmacology of nerve-blocking agents throughout his career.  He taught me research on molecular mechanisms of local anesthetics, the pharmacology of local anesthetics, nerve function, and pain mechanisms.

“While I was in Strichartz lab in 1983, I received the Burroughs Wellcome Research Fellowship in Anesthesiology, (which later became FAER).  Professors Gertrude B. Elion and George H. Hitchings at Burroughs Wellcome were using innovative methods of rational drug design for development of new drugs. This new method focused on understanding the target of the drug rather than simply using trial-and-error. In 1988, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Gertrude B. Elion, George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for their use of innovative methods of rational drug design for the development of the anti-retroviral drugs and immunosuppressive drugs.  

“My award for the Fellowship inspired me to pursue the safety of nerve function and the brain after anesthesia.”
- Paula M. Bokesch, MD, FAAP | 1983 Burroughs Wellcome Research Fellow in Anesthesiology

“The FAER award was the first competitive award I received, and it helped establish me as a serious researcher within our department, which led to me being given time and resources to progress. I think it also led to the perception or reality that I was generally competent. This led to my being offered the opportunity to move to obstetric anesthesia early in my career as a Division Chief, which was probably the most significant move/decision of my professional life.”
- Richard M. Smiley, MD, PhD | 1989 Research Starter Grant (RSG) Recipient

“After my research fellowship at MGH, FAER was my first research award of which I was very proud and honored to receive. I continued with this enthusiasm for the rest of my academic career. The FAER award encouraged me to donate to FAER to help other junior researchers start on their academic professional path.”
- Alberto J de Armendi, MD, PhD, MBA | 1989 Research Starter Grant (RSG) Recipient

“The FAER funding at the beginning of my career was foundational for establishing my academic research career. It has facilitated a number of research discoveries including (1) the mechanisms by which muscle relaxants interacting with airway muscarinic receptors facilitate severe bronchoconstriction; (2) the role of peripheral GABAA receptors in modulating physiological responses by anesthetics; (3) the potential therapeutic potential of benzodiazepine derivatives, ligands for calcium-activated chloride channels, and phytochemicals for modulating bronchoconstriction in asthma. My FAER award began a 35-year career of NIH funded research and established a mentoring career that has been most rewarding.”
- Charles W. Emala Sr., MD, MS | 1995 Research Starter Grant (RSG) Recipient

“Receiving a FAER grant immediately after residency was transformative for my career. In an era when clinical demands often limit opportunities for sustained academic development, FAER support provided protected time to build the foundation necessary for a physician-scientist pathway. During this period, I was able to develop grant-writing skills, generate preliminary data, and establish a focused research program – efforts that ultimately led to subsequent NIH-funded support. Beyond financial assistance, FAER’s early investment signaled confidence in my potential and enabled me to pursue a dual career dedicated to advancing pediatric anesthesiology research while caring for patients. I remain deeply grateful for FAER’s commitment to cultivating the next generation of clinician-investigators and for the pivotal role it played in shaping my academic trajectory.”
- Dusica Bajic, MD, PhD | 2009 Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG) Recipient

“FAER funding was the catalyst for my success as a clinician-scientist. Clinical research was never on the differential for my career, but I had an important question about sleep in the intensive care unit and my mentors encouraged me to take the next step and apply for my first research grant to begin to answer it. The FAER Research Fellowship Grant truly catapulted my passion for research. It established the preliminary data, feasibility, and foundation for me to successfully compete for an internal K12 award and enroll and graduate as a PhD in Clinical Investigation from the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. During this time, I expanded my sleep research in the Pediatric ICU to the perioperative and critical care continuum, creating the first early mobility program for critically ill children called “PICU Up!”. PICU Up! has been licensed at 25 hospitals in the United States and adapted at 250 hospitals internationally, changing the paradigm for pediatric perioperative and critical care.

“My first NIH grant was an R21, and I was awarded an R01 on my first application with a 5th percentile score. That trial has completed enrollment with 1,440 patients. We anticipate publication in a high-impact journal this year. My mentees have K awards, T32s, foundation funding and have either stayed at Johns Hopkins to establish research careers or forged paths outside Hopkins into leadership roles. My success as a clinician-scientist translated to establishing progressive leadership, and I am now the Anesthesiologist-in-Chief of the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and Vice Chair for Pediatric ACCM, overseeing three Divisions (Pediatric Anesthesiology, Pediatric Critical Care, Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care and Anesthesia), with 65 faculty, 24 APPs, and 21 fellows. In summary, I don't believe any of this would have been possible without FAER funding. It was truly the first time I saw my path clearly.”
- Sapna Kudchadkar, MD, PhD | 2010 Research Fellowship Grant (RFG) Recipient

“FAER funding was instrumental in launching my career as a physician-scientist. With this and other research support during my training, I was fortunate to be recruited as a faculty member at the Cleveland Clinic, where I received additional institutional support that enabled me to secure an NIH K08 career development award, followed by multiple internal and extramural grants. I am deeply grateful to FAER for its early investment, which helped shape the trajectory of my research career.”
- Jijun Xu, MD, PhD | 2012 Research Fellowship Grant (RFG) Recipient

“My Research in Education grant served as a catalyst for my educational research career. It provided me with foundational experience in education research as well as mentorship that was instrumental in my professional development. This support helped ignite my passion for educational scholarship and facilitated the early development of a collaborative network that has continued to support my work.”
- Susan M. Martinelli, MD, FASA | 2014 Research in Education Grant (REG) Recipient

“FAER funding was instrumental in shaping my transition from mentored investigator to independent physician-scientist. At a critical early stage of my career in UCLA’s Department of Anesthesiology, FAER support provided protected time, resources, and validation that allowed me to pursue a mechanistically driven research vision focused on the intersection of inflammation, coagulation, and endothelial dysfunction in critical illness. Importantly, FAER funding helped catalyze the evolution of a research idea initially developed during my NIH K-award into a fully autonomous program.

“During this period, my laboratory made the defining discovery that TLR7 deficiency protects against thrombocytopenia and coagulopathy in sepsis, revealing a previously unrecognized role for TLR7 in disease pathogenesis. This work established my scientific independence, resulted in peer-reviewed publications with me as corresponding author, and positioned me to expand beyond the original scope of the project. FAER’s early investment was therefore pivotal—not only in generating key scientific discoveries, but also in enabling the intellectual confidence, preliminary data, and academic credibility necessary to secure subsequent extramural funding.”
- Brittney Williams, MD | 2019 Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG) Recipient

“FAER funding provided early support that allowed me to develop a research program focused on spinal cord stimulation for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. The work supported by FAER formed the foundation for my subsequent NCI-funded research and helped shape my long-term focus on neuromodulation as a disease-modifying therapy for cancer-related pain.”
- Eellan Sivanesan, MD, FASA | 2020 Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG) Recipient

“The FAER REG grant was pivotal in launching a sustained innovation program in anesthesiology medical education. The time, mentorship, networking, and financial support were crucial for my personal development as a researcher and educator. Our successful FAER project provided the foundation for subsequent funding from the American Medical Association’s ChangeMedEd Precision Education Grant Program. With support from our community, we aim to improve anesthesiology education by supporting personalized data-enhanced coaching and lifelong adaptive learning in our ever-evolving healthcare and information landscapes.”
- Matthew D. Caldwell, MD | 2023 Research in Education Grant (REG) Recipient

“FAER support was the catalyst that allowed me to move from ideas to an enduring program of work. The Mentored Research Training Grant gave me the protected space to write, pilot, and iterate; the confidence to pursue ambitious questions; and, importantly, the connections, mentors and collaborators needed to do rigorous, team-based safety science in real clinical settings. Since receiving FAER support, I’ve expanded my research focus on perioperative culture and team effectiveness into externally funded work, including a Macy Catalyst award and APSF culture funding to develop and implement culture-change interventions across perioperative teams. For me, the most meaningful accomplishment is that FAER support helped create the conditions to do work that is both academically rigorous and operationally relevant, work that strengthens teams, improves clinician well-being, and ultimately improves patient safety.”
- Caoimhe Duffy, MD, MSc, FCAI | 2024 APSF-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG) Recipient

Introduction History & Milestones Words from Past Presidents Grantee Testimonials Closing Thoughts & Thank You

We hope you have enjoyed learning more about FAER’s history and hearing from FAER’s past presidents and grantees on this walk down memory lane. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary, we want to take a moment and recognize all the truly incredible individuals who have made this milestone possible, including our founding supporter the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA).

FAER’s work to nurture anesthesiology’s early-career scientists is only possible thanks to our wonderful volunteers and donors. It is only through their support – whether by offering their time and expertise or opening their wallets to give – that FAER is able to offer the many grants and programs that have proven so valuable to so many over these four decades. We encourage you to visit our Donor Honor Roll here.

And, of course, the Foundation would not exist at all were it not for the extraordinary young investigators working hard to bring the specialty into the future through research. It is FAER’s greatest pride to support these future thought-leaders on their research journey.

To our donors, to our volunteers, to our leaders, to our program participants, and to our grantees…
Thank you for all that you do for education and research in anesthesiology, and for creating 40 fantastic years of FAER!

THE FOUNDATION FOR ANESTHESIA EDUCATION AND RESEARCH (FAER)
FAER is a related foundation of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). For 40 years, FAER has been dedicated to developing the next generation of physician-investigators in anesthesiology. Charitable contributions and support to FAER help fuel the future of anesthesiology through scientific discovery. Funding priorities include: Research, Education, and Training. At the time of this article's publication, FAER has awarded more than $61 million in research grants and programs since 1986. To donate to FAER, visit FAER.org/donate.