Allison Kinder Ross

This is my fifteenth year on the faculty at DUMC. During these years, there was an initial focus of research work on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of anesthetic agents in children and now includes the sedation of mentally challenged children as well as pediatric regional anesthesia.
Industry funding is presently being provided for several multicenter studies and Duke has been an active participant. I am the PI for Duke on the investigation of the pk and pd of rocuronium in children that will be completed by mid-2007. Prior years I have been a PI or coPI for investigations in children at Duke for fentanyl, remifentanil, rapacuronium, rocuronium, and ondansetron.
In addition to the research that involves anesthetic agents, I remain very active in research regarding the sedation of children who are mentally challenged. By teaming up with members in the psychiatry department at UNC, I have been able to be a coinvestigator in 2 studies that are funded by NIMH involving imaging procedures under sedation in children who are autistic or developmentally delayed. My presence for the MRI studies in these children is in its seventh year.
Although the above projects offer funding for the department, my main interest continues to be in the area of pediatric regional anesthesia. Duke anesthesiologists have become well-known for their work in regional anesthesia, and this is true in the pediatric arena as well. Trials are ongoing and have resulted in many abstracts, papers, and lectures.