The countdown for “Funding your research program – there is more than one fish in the sea”by Christina Pabelick, MD The countdown is running for the upcoming AUA Annual Meeting (March 27 – 29, 2026 in Seattle, WA). We hope to see you all at the meeting, ready to listen, learn but more importantly participate in engaging discussions on a wide range of topics (abstracts and talks) as well as the panel discussion “Funding your research program – there is more than one fish in the sea”. The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) has been hard at work throughout the year to develop a program that will engage a lot of people with a wide range of interests. This newsletter will focus on the upcoming AUA Annual Meeting and SAB’s program. The program supported by SAB will take place on Saturday, March 28, 2026, and will start at 1pm with a 1-hour moderated poster session. AUA/SAB received abstracts representing a wide range of interesting topics related to basic science research, clinical research, and educational research. The abstract topics demonstrate the breadth of areas our colleagues in the field are involved in from bench and translational research through educational research, and clinical research implementing findings into clinical practice. After the poster session the best abstracts will be presented as oral presentations, and awards will be distributed. The AUA and SAB are fortunate to have sponsors for these awards to support young scientists and clinicians in their careers as they delve into research across the discovery-translation-application spectrum. Paying forward for the next generation of leaders in our field is absolutely critical, and we sincerely appreciate the support by our sponsors, who should encourage all of us to do more in this regard. The final part of the SAB program will be our panel discussion “Funding your research program – there is more than one fish in the sea”. For this timely panel discussion, we will focus on approaches to diversifying research and funding strategies. We have been able to engage highly recognized leaders in the field of anesthesiology and peri-operative medicine to drive a lively discussion. The panel participants will be Charles Emala, MD (Vice-Chair for Research, Columbia University) presenting on federal funding, Michael Gropper, MD, PhD (Chair, Anesthesiology, UCSF) presenting on industry funding, Max Kelz, MD, PhD (U Penn, FAER President) presenting on foundation funding, and finally Meghan Lane-Fall, MD (Chair, Anesthesiology, Columbia University) presenting on non-traditional funding opportunities. The panel will be moderated by Brant Wagener, MD, PhD (UAB) and Creed Stary, MD, PhD (Stanford). The panelists will give short presentations, but the overall goal will be to have a lively discussion among panelists and the audience relating to these topics and other questions/concerns that may arise, particularly from our younger colleagues looking for their first sources of extramural funding. As the Chair for SAB, I would like to thank all the SAB members for their continued support and contributions improving academic anesthesia. A big thank you to the AUA leadership and to all of you, the AUA membership, for continuing to actively push for academic anesthesiology and perioperative medicine research at personal, institutional, national and international levels. As a field, we are uniquely positioned to remain strong during these interesting times, and AUA and the SAB are here to help and encourage everyone. Author
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