The Critical Care Research Fund
Professor John Kinsella announces the launch of the new Critical Care Research Fund to help support Research in Anaesthesia, Critical Care & Pain.
At some point everyone has an interaction with Anaesthetists when they require operations. By a process of continual research and quality improvement, anaesthesia is now one of the safest medical interventions with a low rate of serious complications. This is in great contrast in the early development of the specialty when anaesthesia was extremely hazardous.
Our research had led to new ways of delivering anaesthesia using computer controlled intravenous infusions rather than traditional inhaled gases or single boluses of drugs. This leads to fewer side effects and quicker recovery.
We have developed better ways of investigating the injury following burns and improving treatment using better methods of assessment and more effective pain relief.
Anaesthetists are leading the development and delivery of Critical Care and Pain Services. In all these areas there is a focus on improving safety and quality for the benefit of patients. As a result the Academic Unit has a wide range of research addressing the major issues in these areas. We are announcing that we are launching a fund to help support this exciting and valuable work, which will benefit everyone at some point in their life.
- Currently we are conducting trials of safer methods to provide pain relief and studies to detect complications of critical care at an earlier stage allowing earlier and more effective treatments.
- We have recently developed new understanding of the role of vitamins in the critically ill and have pioneered new methods of detecting vitamin depletion which are being adopted worldwide.
- We are developing new methods to quantify how unwell patients are in intensive care so that deterioration can be rapidly detected.
- We are conducting studies to allow computers to identify and predict adverse events such a myocardial infarctions in the critically ill.
- We are also commencing a major trial to look at the optimal method to treat renal failure in the critically ill.
- We are conducting studies to examine fitness prior to surgery and how this relates to the outcome of surgery. For example we are about to conduct a detailed investigation on the consequences of major lung resection on the heart using advanced techniques including MRI.
The Academic Unit of Anaesthesia is led by Dr Tara Quasim
For further information on Giving to the University of Glasgow please visit
http://www.gla.ac.uk/about/givingtoglasgow/guidetogiving/
If you would like to donate to our fund - please click on the link and complete the form:
Please state that the form has to be returned to Development and Alumni Office - put address on its at the bottom of the page
E-mail: tara.quasim@glasgow.ac.uk