Meeting Reviews
Session V: Awards Presentations
By Erin Gottlieb, MD
CCAS Lifetime Achievement Award
The CCAS Lifetime Achievement Award, as introduced by Dr. Luis Zabala, was created to acknowledge and honor the recipient’s lifetime contribution to the mission of the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society: teaching, improving perioperative care and outcomes, and facilitating technological advances in therapies for patients with congenital heart disease.
Dr. Kirsten Odegard announced and introduced the first recipient of the CCAS Lifetime Achievement Award, Dr. Dolly D. Hansen, known as “The Mother of Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia.” Dr. Hansen was raised and educated in Denmark. In 1971, Dr. Hansen started her fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology at Boston Children’s Hospital. She remained there as faculty for 30 years.
Dr. Hansen was the Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesiology from 1980 until 1994. As Dr. Odegard shared, Dr. Hansen anesthetized some of the most fragile patients often with very little time for preparation. She anesthetized the first patient undergoing deep hypothermic circulatory arrest at Boston Children’s with almost no notice, and she demonstrated her innovative and adaptable side by quickly purchasing a plastic tub to fill with ice in which to submerge the patient for cooling.
She also anesthetized the first patient undergoing Stage I palliation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome by Dr. William Norwood and was instrumental in the perioperative care of this patient. She is a co-author on the 1983 New England Journal of Medicine paper describing the procedure.
Dr. Hansen was developing the field of pediatric cardiac anesthesiology on a day-to-day basis. She relayed to Dr. Odegard that she was most proud of her contribution of ventilating with air instead of 100% oxygen in babies with ductal dependent lesions, a contribution that is central to our practice of pediatric cardiac anesthesiology. Dr. Odegard quotes Dr. Hansen as being “Blessed to be there at the right place at the right time.”
Dr. Hansen cared for a multitude of patients, she educated and influenced the careers of hundreds of anesthesiologists (including myself), and she created and advanced the subspecialty. In a celebratory video, Drs. Jim DiNardo, Richard Jonas, Annette Schure, Mark Rockoff, Peter Laussen, Frank McGowan, and Paul Hickey shared their reflections, stories, and congratulations.
Dr. Hansen is an extraordinary trailblazer, anesthesiologist, educator, innovator, and role model who has influenced pediatric cardiac anesthesiology in innumerable ways. Congratulations to Dr. Dolly D. Hansen for receiving the 2021 CCAS Lifetime Achievement Award!
Presentation of the 1st Annual Dolly D. Hansen Research Award
The Dolly D. Hansen Research Award, as introduced by Dr. Mark Twite, President of the CCAS, was created to promote research initiatives in the field of pediatric cardiac anesthesiology. This award is supported by the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesiology Society Dolly D. Hansen Educational Fund and is awarded to a junior member of the Society to support a research project. The award also honors Dr. Hansen.
Dr. David Faraoni presented the 2021 Dolly D. Hansen Research Award to its first recipient, Dr. Stephanie Grant, a pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and an assistant professor of anesthesiology at Emory School of Medicine. Her mentor is Dr. Nina Guzzetta.
Dr. Grant’s research project is entitled “Examining Thrombin Generation in Children with Single Ventricle Physiology.” Her project is a pilot study comparing thrombin generation and other variables in 10 patients with Fontan physiology undergoing cardiac catheterization with 10 age-matched control patients with a biventricular circulation undergoing electrophysiology studies.
Congratulations to Drs. Grant and Guzzetta! We look forward to the results of the study.
