Chair: Laura Downey, MD
The committee’s objectives are: mentorship, leadership, and dissemination (Figure).
The research committee promotes research in preoperative management of pediatric patients with congenital cardiac disease, and has identified the top research priorities:
1. Neurologic outcomes and neuroprotection: mechanisms and protective strategies that impact neurologic outcomes.
2. Understand and manage coagulopathy: strategies to improve bleeding management.
3. Utilization of machine learning and database research to predict adverse events and identify strategies to improve outcome.
4. Regional anesthesia and pain management in neonates and children undergoing cardiac surgery.
The objective of the research committee is to promote and help develop research initiatives in those and other areas. The current evidence in pediatric literature is limited to, usually small, single center retrospective and prospective studies, it is therefore important to promote and support the development of large multi-center collaborations in order to improve the quality of the evidence. The number of funding opportunities for congenital cardiac anesthesia research is limited, and it is the duty of the research committee to develop funding opportunities and to help mentor junior investigators in their research endeavours.
Finally, the goal of the CCAS Research Committee is to be open to the CCAS community. The creation of a platform where members can interact with the CCAS research committee is key for success.
