We are pleased to announce Dr. Melania Bembea as the inaugural Director of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine Clinical and Translational Research.

Dr. Bembea is an internationally recognized, NIH-funded clinician-scientist whose own research focuses on brain injury biomarkers in children and improving neurologic monitoring and outcomes during and after critical illness. After completing a pediatric critical care medicine fellowship in 2009, Dr. Bembea joined the Peds Critical Care Medicine faculty and, in 2015, was appointed and has served as the Director of the internationally recognized Johns Hopkins Children’s Center ECMO Program. As a visionary clinical researcher recognizing an important need, Dr. Bembea established the foundation of the Pediatric ACCM Clinical Research Program in 2010, recruiting dedicated pediatric research RNs and coordinators to facilitate the conduct of single and multicenter studies in the PICU. She serves as the Co-Chair of the JHM IRB-X Committee. She has extensive experience mentoring trainees and junior faculty in her roles on the Graduate Training Program in Clinical Investigation Advisory Council and as MPI of the NHLBI-funded Pediatric Critical Cardiopulmonary Disease T32 clinician-scientist training program.

As the Director of the Johns Hopkins ACCM Clinical and Translational Research Program, Dr. Bembea will work with ACCM faculty and collaborators to ensure the ethical and responsible conduct of all clinical research in the critical care and perioperative home, including investigatorinitiated, multicenter, and industry studies, develop a clinical research hub centralizing information on resources available across Johns Hopkins, and mentor and guide early-stage clinical investigators in the initiation, conduct and funding opportunities for clinical research in ACCM.

We would also like to extend a warm thank you to Dr. Nauder Faraday for his role as Director of Clinical Research. Dr. Faraday’s commitment to the CRC over the last 8+ years has resulted in a robust program that is a comprehensive resource for research endeavors supported by a team of dedicated professionals.

Congratulations and thank you for your leadership, Mela!