ANNOUNCEMENTS

Abstract

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the journal Anesthesiology announce a special “Journal Symposium” to be held at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in October 2004, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Journal Symposium is held annually to highlight emerging and important concepts in anesthesia research and clinical practice.For 2004, the Journal Symposium is entitled “Pharmacogenomics and Anesthesia: Determinants of Individual Response and Outcome.” The Symposium will take place on Tuesday, October 26, 2004, 9:00 am–12:30 pm, in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.The Symposium format will be a poster-discussion session in conjunction with formal lectures by 2–4 invited international experts. Abstracts for inclusion in the Symposium poster-discussion session will be selected from among those submitted for presentation at the Annual Meeting by the Symposium organizers, Dr. Margaret Wood of The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, New York, and Dr. Evan Kharasch of the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.Investigators from around the world with an interest in this subject are encouraged to submit their work to the ASA for the Annual Meeting. Abstracts demonstrating the genetic determinants of drug disposition, drug effect, and clinical outcome are particularly encouraged and are not limited specifically to anesthetic agents. Abstracts should be submitted via the usual on-line process (which can be accessed via the Web sites www.ASAhq.organd www.anesthesiology.org). The deadline for abstract submission is April 1, 2004. Interested individuals should check the special box in the abstract submission form to indicate interest in consideration for the Journal Symposium.Anesthesiology, in conjunction with the American Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists (ASCCA), is pleased to announce a special session at the 2004 American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. This forum will serve two purposes. The first is to highlight new and innovative research in Critical Care Medicine. Of even greater importance is our desire to promote the value of mentored research training. To this end, the session will feature oral presentations by junior investigators (i.e. , those with a rank of Assistant Professor or below and less than 7 yr in rank) whose work has direct bearing on the art and science of Critical Care. Each investigator’s talk will be followed by a short presentation by his or her mentor. The mentor’s talk will highlight how the presented work fits into the overall scheme of investigation in the mentor’s laboratory and how it will contribute to our understanding of any aspect of Critical Care Medicine. Participation by the audience will be encouraged.Investigators involved in all types of research, including but not limited to basic science, clinical investigations, outcomes-based studies, epidemiology, and safety-oriented investigations, are invited to submit their best work for consideration. A committee consisting of Journal Editors and representatives of the ASCCA will select the presenters. Our goal is to gather a large number of individuals with an interest in Critical Care and its importance to the practice of Anesthesiology.Abstracts should be submitted to the ASA Annual Meeting using standard criteria. However, only those identifying Critical Care as the major subject area will be considered for this special session. In addition, authors should notify the Anesthesiology office (anesthesiology@uiowa.edu) or the ASCCA President (deutschcl@uphs.upenn.edu) regarding their interest in being considered for this session.