Edward F. Domino Lecture in Consciousness Studies
June 22, 2023, 6:45-7:45 a.m.
North Lecture Hall in Med Sci II
3rd Floor, Room NLH 3695
The 2023 Edward F. Domino Lecture will be delivered by Beverley A. Orser, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Professor of Physiology, University of Toronto.
Dr. Orser is an internationally renowned physician-scientist and academic leader whose research has focused on, among other topics, the molecular mechanisms of sedative-hypnotic and amnestic effects of anesthetic agents. In particular, she has investigated anesthetic actions on γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors with important relevance to clinical problems such as anesthesia awareness and postoperative memory impairment.
In addition to her academic roles as Professor and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, University of Toronto, Dr. Orser is Co-Director of the Perioperative Brain Health Centre, Sunnybrook HSC, Trustee of the International Anesthesia Research Society, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and International Member of the US National Academy of Medicine.
The lecture honors Edward F. Domino, Ph.D., (1924-2021), Professor of Pharmacology, University of Michigan, for his lifetime pioneering research in neuropharmacology, including the early exploration of the clinical effects of phencyclidine, its relevance to schizophrenia, and the characterization of the behavioral and neural effects—as well as the first human application—of the phencyclidine derivative, ketamine. This led to the novel concept of “dissociative anesthesia,” with ketamine now a major research focus of the field of consciousness science, anesthesiology, and psychiatry.
