LAB Report

The Leadership Advisory Board (LAB) efforts continue to expand in three main areas, in service of the AUA mission: annual meeting planning, professional development, and mentoring and networking.

In collaboration with the EAB and SAB, LAB members reviewed over 20 member-submitted session proposals for the annual meeting. The program of the meeting is accordingly expanded to reflect the interests of our membership and to highlight the expertise of our academic community. The contributions of our members are again notable in this year’s annual program and the ongoing webinars.

With the support of communications committee and the AUA president, the LAB has launched a new professional development series as a feature in the newsletter. These invited contributions by our AUA members share the hard-earned insights and the learning from our experiences. This series aims to normalize the inevitable setbacks in an academic career, while providing strategies for a path forward.

The LAB task force on mentoring has made large strides in defining the scope of interest and to create a database of mentors. We are indebted to the many AUA members who eagerly volunteered to serve as mentors and to provide the next generation of anesthesiologists with guidance and support.

In addition, the annual meeting is an opportunity for informal networking. Please join us during the lunch hour on Thursday to celebrate the awardees of the Mentor Award and the IDEAL award. In addition, it is an opportunity to meet some of the members of the LAB, learn more about what we’re doing, and find ways to collaborate. The Women Networking Session, held on Friday morning, is an open forum for all AUA members to discuss the challenges facing our workforce. This year, the session highlights experts’ opinions on managing sexual harassment in the workplace, a problem that the AUA has decided to explore from all facets. Accordingly, a survey was developed by the LAB members to explore incidence, sources, and impact of sexual harassment in academic anesthesiology. The results of the survey will be shared later this year.

Every year, the call for volunteers to serve on the AUA advisory boards generates a robust response. This year is no exception; we welcome 12 new members to the Leadership Advisory Board. The 12 new members are Dr. Titilopemi Aina (Baylor College of Medicine), Dr. Sujatha Bhandary (Emory Healthcare), Dr. Elizabeth Duggan (University of Alabama Birmingham), Dr. Craig Jabaley (Emory University), Dr. Allison Lee (Columbia University), Dr. Yafen Liang (UT Health Science Center in Houston), Dr. Elizabeth Malinzak (Duke University), Dr. William Peruzzi (Henry Ford Health/Michigan State University), Dr. Deborah Rusy (University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health), Dr. Jonathan Tan (Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California), Dr. Thomas Vetter (Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin), and Dr. Cynthia Wong (University of Iowa).

Tremendous gratitude to the outgoing members whose efforts shaped the LAB over the past several years.

Looking forward to another year in service of the mission of the AUA and the community of academic anesthesiologists.

Author

Maya Jalbout Hastie, MD, EdD

Chair, Leadership Advisory Board

Columbia University

New York, New York