The Society for Technology in Anesthesia (STA), under which the Society for Simulation in Healthcare first formed, is honoring CMS’ Executive Director Jeff Cooper with the 2015 J.S. Graventstein award.  The award is named for J. S. “Nik” Gravenstein (1925-2009), a founding member and former president of the STA. For over thirty years, Dr. Gravenstein was a driving force in advancing anesthesia technology, patient simulation and anesthesia patient safety. Among many contributions to anesthesia technology and safety, Dr. Gravenstein was one of the pioneers in medical simulation. It was under his leadership at the University of Florida, Gainesville, that the precursor to what became the METI, now CAE, HPS was created. Dr.  Cooper, who worked closely with Dr. Gravenstein in the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, is widely known in the simulation world for having founded the world renowned Center for Medical Simulation in Boston (CMS) and numerous other simulation educational innovations. Beyond his simulation leadership, Dr. Cooper is one of the world’s pioneers in patient safety, having led the earliest studies of medical error beginning in the mid-1970’s.  Dr. Cooper also led a team that developed a prototype of the one of the world’s first microprocessor based medical devices, the Boston Anesthesia System, the principles on which modern day anesthesia workstations are founded. 

The award will be conferred on January 9 at STA’s annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona.

Congratulations Jeff from everyone here at CMS!