Research

Recent and current research in the Division and in the Department relevant to obstetric anesthesia includes a variety of studies of drug combinations and techniques for labor analgesia and post-partum pain relief, a program of research into the role of genetic polymorphisms on pregnancy complications, preterm and term labor and delivery, and response to anesthesia and postoperative analgesia, and some recent work on the molecular basis of weight regulation in pregnancy and novel molecular pathways governing uterine contractility.

Faculty in the Department have recently received funding for research projects examining epigenetics (DNA methylation patterns) related to opioid use during pregnancy and epigenetics of post-partum preeclampsia, as well as an educational research project comparing the effectiveness of high-fidelity simulation to a computer-based “serious game” in resident training.

In addition, we use an electronic anesthesia record for all cases, including labor analgesia; this includes automated acquisition of maternal and fetal data into the anesthesia record and a digital database, which is a valuable resource for “health service delivery” research and other “data mining.”

Abstracts from the Division have won the “Best Paper of the Meeting” award at the annual meeting of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) and Best Paper at the International Society for Anesthetic Pharmacology. Some recent publications by faculty in the Division can give prospective Fellows an idea of the areas of interest and active investigation.

Selected Publications 2012-2017 Columbia Faculty & Fellows - Obstetric Anesthesia