News and Events

During the 2000’s, preclinical research studies began to find that laboratory animals exposed to commonly used anesthetic and sedative drugs early in life showed changes to the brain and nervous system that interfered with memory and learning.  Additional research during this time set off alarms for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), parents, and the anesthesia practitioner community. The FDA held its first Advisory Committee hearing on this issue in 2007. As an outcome of that meeting, representatives from the FDA reached out to the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) in 2008 with the idea of forming a Public Private Partnership to address these new, startling findings.  IARS was uniquely positioned to partner with the FDA due to its non-political collaborative mission, infrastructure, expertise and commitment to research, education and advancing the specialty.

IARS is pleased to announce the funding of two new research studies totaling $309,000, aimed at addressing remaining pediatric anesthetic neurotoxicity questions.  IARS, and its generous members and donors, have provided the needed funding to continue the work that the SmartTots initiative began ten years ago in partnership with the FDA.  Since its inception, SmartTots has worked in collaboration with investigators from around the world to make anesthesia and surgery safe for our most vulnerable population.  Recent investigations have provided data demonstrating certainty that anesthetic agents disrupt neurodevelopment in animal models.  However, the evidence in humans continues to be mixed.   The funding of these two new projects will start to unravel some of the remaining quandaries in this important area of research.

The IARS announces the appointment of Dean Andropoulos, MD, M.H.C.M. as the Medical Officer of SmartTots. Dr. Andropoulos is an established clinical researcher, and a board-certified physician in Anesthesiology and Pediatric Anesthesiology. He is...