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.
Jimcy Platholi, MS, PhD
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Role of mossy fiber terminals in early anesthesia neurotoxicity
This project aims to understand how anesthetic-mediated disruption of mossy fiber transmission during development intersects with genetic variation to influence neuronal activity in later life.
Peter Szmuk, MD
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Neurodevelopmental outcome after standard dose sevoflurane versus low-dose
This project supports phase III of the international TREX trial. The study compares the neurodevelopmental outcome after standard dose sevoflurane versus a combination of low-dose sevoflurane, dexmedetomidine and remifentanil anesthesia in young children having anesthesia expected to last 2 hours or longer.
Learn more about both studies here: https://smarttots.org/research-and-grants/