Overview
Dedicated research rotations for trainees at all levels that are mentored as well as self-directed have been part of the residency program structure before the change in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements for academic projects. In addition, Tufts Medical Center (Tufts MC) provides resources for research via the Tufts Clinical and Translational Research Science Institute funded through the NIH R01GM987654 (CTSI). The CTSI also provides an online research educational series. Representation of our academic productivity at major scientific national and international Anesthesiology and Critical Care Society meetings has steadily evolved and includes ASA, SCA, SCCA, SCCM, SOAP, Pain, SPA, ASRA, SOCCA and IARS among other venues.
With the advent of ACGME required academic and Quality Improvement projects, nearly every trainee is, and many faculty are, engaged in some form of data collection, analysis, and ultimately research.
For this reason, in the spring of 2017, the Tufts Anesthesia Research Center – TARC - was inaugurated under the leadership of Iwona Bonney, PhD, as administrative director. The TARC is supported by the TARC-RC, or research consortium, consisting of interested faculty members who assist in the execution of the TARC mission.
The TARC mission is to assist and support department researchers with information, resources, education, administrative needs, and critical project proposal evaluation and to collect relevant information on ongoing projects to aid in project completion and accounting for reporting to the Chair, TUSM and the Tufts MC community. The TARC-RC assists in the evaluation of research and quality improvement project proposals as well as content assessment for the residents’ research rotation among resolution of other research-related questions. TARC ascertains the alignment of the academic work with the research priorities of the department. These currently include the following core areas:
- Basic science; anesthetic-induced neuroapoptosis and neuroinflammation
- Cardiac anesthesia; echocardiographic parameters and outcomes correlation
- Pain medicine; evidence-based reviews and clinical trials
- Geriatric anesthesia; perioperative neurocognitive outcomes
- ERAS and PSH outcomes research
- Obesity and anesthesia; device and drug trials, bariatric outcomes.
If you are interested in learning more about the research efforts in the Department of Anesthesiology at Tufts Medical Center, contact Dr. Bonney at iwona.bonney@tuftsmedicine.org.
Iwona Bonney, PhD
Administrative Director, TARC
