Congratulations to our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Peter Glass, the recipient of the 2015 SAMBA Distinguished Service Award — the highest honor bestowed by the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia (SAMBA).
From the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia:
“The SAMBA Distinguished Service Award (DSA) is the highest honor our Society can bestow upon an individual for exceptional service to ambulatory anesthesia. The Committee on Awards considers nominations from members and presents a name to the Board of Directors for a vote. Past DSA recipients include individuals who have dedicated their careers to the advancement of the specialty. This year’s recipient is no exception. Dr. Peter Glass was selected and unanimously approved by the SAMBA Board of Directors to receive the 2015 SAMBA Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his outstanding service to ambulatory anesthesia and for promoting anesthesiologists as leaders, educators, and and scientist in the field.
“Dr. Peter Glass is one of the pillars of ambulatory anesthesia. It is fair to state that without his research and educational effort the practice of ambulatory anesthesia today would not have been the same.
“Many academicians spend a life time working on projects that have little clinical relevance to patient safety and comfort. Not Dr. Glass. His research interest focused on the pharmacology of analgesics, anesthetics and muscle relaxants; drug delivery systems; postoperative analgesia; ambulatory anesthesia and the study of Target-controlled infusions.
“Almost all the SAFE (short-acting, fast emergence) drugs that we use today have been studied and made popular in ambulatory anesthesia by Dr. Glass and his team at Duke University. Think propofol, remifnetanil, ondansetron, alfentanil, midazolam, vecuronium etc.
“A South African native, he immigrated to the US and pursued an academic career in anesthetic pharmacology which led to his appointment as Professor with Tenure at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. In 1999 he accepted the position of Professor and Chairman (now Retired) at the Department of Anesthesiology State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York.
“Dr. Glass’ services to SAMBA are innumerable Since 1996, he was a member, chair, or co-chair of such important committees as (the actual list is exhaustive and is best found in a copy of his CV) the SAMBA Committee on Awards, Research, Education, Annual Meeting, Mid-Year Meeting, Membership, Task Force on Ambulatory and Office-Based Fellowships, SAMBA Committee on Clinical Outcomes and Performance Measures, etc. He served as Secretary (2008), and President (2011) of our Society, and with Lucy Everett, co-championed the SCOR project for SAMBA.
“Dr. Glass also represented SAMBA to important outside organizations such as the SAMBA-JCAHO Ambulatory Professional and Technical Advisory Committee, and in 2005 was elected by the SAMBA Board to serve as Section Editor, Ambulatory Anesthesia, Anesthesia & Analgesia. A position that he still holds (but due to retire from this year) to date.
“Some of his ‘outside’ interests include being a member of the Board of the Society of Intravenous Anesthesia, the ASA Section on Drug Disposition and Metabolism, USP DI Section on Anesthesia, President, Society of Intravenous Anesthesia, Scientific Advisory Board, Association of University Anesthetists, ASA Subcommittee on Drug Disposition, Scientific Papers, and Clinical Forum, and Clinical Circulation.”