Invited Speaker

Randal Blank

University of Virginia

USA
Randal Blank received a B.S. in Biology in 1981 and a Ph.D. in Physiology in 1986 from The Pennsylvania State University and a M.D. from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 1997. After residency training in Anesthesiology at the University of Virginia Health System, Dr. Blank joined the faculty at the University of Virginia where he was appointed the Chief of Thoracic Anesthesia in 2007 and was promoted to Professor of Anesthesiology in 2018. He was appointed the Cosmo A. DiFazio Professor of Anesthesiology in 2019. His professional affiliations include the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists, and the Academy of Distinguished Educators. He is currently involved in clinical and translational research in a number of related areas including: anesthetic factors in the pathogenesis of lung injury, lung injury during one lung ventilation and thoracic surgery, optimizing protective ventilation during thoracic surgery, mediastinal mass syndrome, and enhanced recovery after thoracic surgery. He is Associate Editor of the text Principles and Practice of Anesthesia for Thoracic Surgery (Peter Slinger, ed.) and has served as a founding member of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists Thoracic Anesthesia Symposium for which he currently serves as the Vice Chair.