Anesthetic Mechanisms

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITION:
Beverley A Orser is Professor of Anesthesia and Physiology at the University of Toronto and practicing anesthesiologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

EDUCATION:
She received a Medical Doctorate from Queen's University (1981) and PhD in medical science from the University of Toronto (1995). Clinical training programs were completed at The Royal Columbia Hospital in British Columbia, McMaster University, Oxford University and the University of Toronto.

ORGANISATIONS/MEMBERSHIPS:
She co-founded the Institute for Safe Medication Practices-Canada, the first Canadian reporting system for medication errors and established the Patient Safety Committee for the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society and Chaired the Canadian Standards Association Subcommittee on the Labeling and Packaging of Drugs.

AWARDS:
Her scientific discoveries were recognized by several awards including a Canada Research Chair in Anesthesia and the first Frontiers in Anesthesia Award from the International Anesthesia Society. She also the recipient of the Recognition Award from the Institute of Safe Medication Practices of the United States, the Premier's Research Excellence Award, and the Career Scientist Award from the Ontario Ministry of Health.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
The aim of her research is to elucidate the changes that occur in the human brain during general anesthesia. Such insights are essential for the development of new anesthetics. Her studies have offered insights into the neuronal substrates underlying pain, memory and consciousness. Her research team first demonstrated the exquisite sensitivity of extrasynaptic GABAA receptors to injectable and inhaled anesthetics. Behavioral studies using mutant mice showed the actions of anesthetics at extrasynaptic GABAA receptors in the hippocampus underlie the amnestic properties of these drugs. These results challenged the prevailing dogma that anesthetics impair cognition by increasing inhibitory synaptic transmission. Clinical research focuses on ways to improve medication safety in the operating room.