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Kudos For Waikato Anaesthetist
Kudos For Waikato Anaesthetist
A Waikato Hospital anaesthetist was awarded a prestigious Kudos science award for his research into medical science.
Dr James Sleigh came up tops for his research into levels of consciousness in patients under anaesthetic.
His research focussed on understanding how general anaesthetic drugs induce unconsciousness and how to quantify their effects.
"We developed a 'mean-field' model of cerebral cortical dynamics that successfully describe transitions between the alert state, general anaesthesia, sleep and seizures."
Dr Sleigh said the model enabled anaesthetists to measure the depth of anaesthesia in patients.
"Practically, we hope to be able to eliminate the rare, but devastating problem of patient awareness when under general anaesthetic.
"At the level of pure science, the study of anaesthesia is a window into understanding the neuroscience of consciousness.
"Science is the winner on the day," he said.
Dr Sleigh, who is also a Professor of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care at the Waikato Clinical School, acknowledged the work by his colleagues as a key factor in its success to date.
"I have worked with a good team of people for many years and this is a good forum to present our work to the public.
"I'd also like to thank Peter Rothwell, Jack Havill and John Conaglen for their constant support and encouragement and the fact that they gave birth to the Waikato Clinical School," he said.
The Waikato Clinical School is an academic division of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland and provides clinical teaching and research for undergraduates and postgraduate medical, nursing and allied health science students.
The ceremony was the first for 'The Kudos - Hamilton Science excellence awards' after being launched in June 2007 to recognise and honour the region's world-class science expertise.
The awards were split into
eight categories:
§ Agricultural science
§ Medical
science
§ Information and computer technology
science
§ Environmental science
§ Science
educator
§ Emerging scientist
§ Science
entrepreneur
§ Lifetime achievement
Four categories were judged by a combination of New Zealand and international experts, while remaining categories were judged by a range of New Zealand-based discipline specialists.
Waikato District Health Board sponsored the prize for the medical science category which included two other finalists from Waikato DHB - Dr Graham Mills and past employee Dr Rathan Subramaniam.
Dr Thodur Vascudevan from Waikato DHB was also a finalist in the science entrepreneur category.
For more information about the awards ceremony go to: www.thekudos.org.nz.
ends
Waikato District Health Board
Healthy People. Excellent Care
Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.
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