Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society
A Section of the the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia

In March of 2020, the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society (CCAS) Board of Directors created the CCAS Research Committee to address the research needs of our specialty. The Research Committee is a closed committee tasked with promoting and encouraging research related to the practice of pediatric cardiac anesthesia; promoting multi-center research with the potential to modify present care paradigms and/or improve outcomes; reviewing studies to be placed on the CCAS website or other CCAS-related materials; approving surveys submitted to CCAS for distribution to the membership; advising and participating in the planning of the CCAS Annual Meeting on topics of research and quality improvement science; evaluating submissions for the CCAS Dolly D. Hansen Research Award and abstracts for the annual meeting; and other matters of interest to research in our specialty.

We are now looking for 3 new members interested in joining the research committee. If you are interested in joining our committee or want to nominate a colleague with an interest in congenital cardiac anesthesia research, please send your nomination and the following information to [email protected] before Friday, February 28, 2025.

• First and Last name of the candidate
• Institution
• Area of research interest
• Short paragraph explaining candidates interest in the committee
• Candidate CV

Applications will be reviewed, and the 3 new candidates will be approved by the CCAS Board of Directors. Preference will be given to those with a strong research background in pediatric cardiac anesthesia.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.

Laura Downey, MD
Chair of the CCAS Research Committee
[email protected]

Dear CCAS Members,

The CCAS Communications Committee is seeking self-nominations for;

1) Committee Chair
2) Editor of the Newsletter
3) Associate Editor of the Newsletter
4) Question of the Week Editors (2)
5) Question of the Week Authors (4)
6) Social Media Editor
7) Website Editor
8) ChiP Network Article Review Editor
9) Echo tutorial Editor for the upcoming 2-year term starting at the 2025 CCAS Annual Meeting

The Communications Committee is a recognized committee within the CCAS. The committee produces the biannual newsletter, including ChiP Network article reviews, creates and gathers the educational content for the CCAS website, writes the Questions of the Week and Polls of the Month, and maintains the social media of the Society.

The role of the Chair is to oversee and assist the Editor and Associate Editor of the Newsletter and the ChiP network Editor with the compilation of the biannual newsletter, in addition to supervising each of the Editors (Website, Social Media, Echo tutorial, and Question of the Week Editors). The Question of the Week Editors revise and edit the Question of the Week, while Question Authors research and write the Questions of the Week and Polls of the Month. The Website Editor creates, gathers, and updates resources and educational content for the official CCAS website. The Social Media Editor maintains the social media (X, Instagram, Facebook) and WhatsApp accounts for the society. The ChiP Network Editor works directly with the ChiP Network to select articles and reviewers for articles related to anesthetic care or critical care of congenital cardiac disease to be published in the newsletter. The Echo tutorial Editor oversees submissions meant to highlight basic aspects of the echocardiographic assessment of selected cardiovascular pathology pertinent to congenital heart disease.

Candidates should submit a personal statement to [email protected] that discusses (1) the position that the candidate wishes to self-nominate for, including the following: 1) why you are interested and any prior experience relevant to the position applied for and (2) prior involvement with CCAS and/or SPA.  You may apply for more than one position and rank the order in which you place the highest to the least preference. The deadline for submission is December 18, 2024.  Candidates will be chosen by the current committee leaders and will be approved by the CCAS Board of Directors. The candidates will be notified in January and announced in the upcoming 2025 Winter Newsletter. Thank you for your interest in supporting the educational mission of the CCAS. Please email me at [email protected] if you have any questions regarding the positions available for self-nomination.

Anne Elisa Cossu, MD, MS, FASA
Chair, Communications Committee and Editor of the Newsletter

Jeremy Deer, MD
Associate Editor of the Newsletter

Sana Ullah, MB ChB FRCA
Questions of the Week Editor

Inquiring Minds Mending Tiny Hearts

The CCAS Research Committee is proud to launch our monthly Podcast “Inquiring Minds Mending Tiny Hearts”.  Over the course of this podcast, the research committee will invite experts to discuss pearls and pitfalls of research in the field of congenital cardiac disease.  We will address a wide range of topics from “How to write a research abstract for a conference” to “How to turn your idea into a research project” to “How can I use a national database to answer my research question?”  We hope that this Podcast will provide a valuable resource for trainees and faculty alike.

 

Adult Congenital Heart Disease and the Pregnant Patient – Risk Stratification and Management
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
6:00 – 7:00 PM Eastern Time (US)

CLICK HERE to register!

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MODERATORS:

Andrea K. Girnius, MD Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology; University of Cincinnati 

Pablo Motta, MD Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Baylor College of Medicine

SPEAKERS:

Anna Ray, MD Associate in Cardiac Anesthesia, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital; Instructor of Anaesthesia, Harvard Medical School

Katherine L. Zaleski, MD Associate in Cardiac Anesthesia, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital; Assistant Professior of Anaesthesia, Harvard Medical School

 

At the completion of this Session, attendees will be able to:

• Review the physiological changes of pregnancy with particular attention to the cardiovascular system.
• Understand risk stratification in pregnant patients with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD).
• Learn to anticipate and address common cardiovascular complications in pregnant ACHD patients.
• Explore the role of a Maternal Heart Team in optimizing maternal and fetal outcomes for patients with ACHD.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the session with individual Zoom link.

This newly minted committee is dedicated to promoting the field of congenital cardiac anesthesia worldwide, especially in areas of greatest need through educational programming, cross-national research endeavors, and hands-on care. P

Please contact Richard Hubbard, MD, Chair of the Global Health Committee, if you are interested in joining at [email protected].