INDIANAPOLIS -- Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist Sikandar Khan, D.O., M.S., has received a prestigious Paul Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award. The award provides up to five years of support to talented scientists who are prepared and willing to take an active leadership role in transformative change that will lead to improved healthcare outcomes.
The Beeson Award will support Dr. Khan’s work to advance the understanding of the role of oxidative stress in aging, focusing on the role of reactive oxygen species in cognitive impairment in patients with acute respiratory failure. The program is a highly selective national award and is a collaborative initiative of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging (NIA), the American Federation for Aging Research and the John A. Hartford Foundation.
One million adults in the U.S. receive mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure annually and up to 80 percent of them develop delirium during their intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Delirium is associated with post-ICU cognitive and physical impairments. Currently there is no effective treatment for delirium.
Dr. Khan’s research has focused on the nexus of acute respiratory failure, delirium in the ICU and cognitive and physical function outcomes in critically ill older adults. His work has included measurement of delirium duration and severity, identification of delirium risk factors, exploring delirium’s association with dementia through peripheral blood-based biomarkers and testing novel non-pharmacological interventions to mitigate delirium in the ICU.
Specific aims of his Beeson-supported study are to:
- Examine the relationship among reactive oxygen species biomarkers and post-ICU cognitive and physical function in acute respiratory failure ICU survivors,
- Measure the relationship between reactive oxygen species biomarkers and delirium duration and severity in patients with acute respiratory failure, and
- Determine the relationship among biomarkers of reactive oxygen species, oxidative stress, and inflammation, and post-ICU cognitive and physical function in patients with acute respiratory failure.
During the study, “Reactive Oxygen Species in Respiratory Failure, Delirium, and Post-ICU Cognitive Impairment,” Dr. Sikandar Khan’s primary mentor will be Babar Khan, M.D., M.S., Regenstrief Institute and IU School of Medicine. Additional members of the mentorship team are co-mentor Micheala Aldred, PhD, IU School of Medicine; advisor Christopher Callahan, M.D., Regenstrief Institute and IU School of Medicine; co-mentor Sujuan Gao, PhD, IU School of Medicine; and advisor Roberto Machado, M.D., IU School of Medicine.
The award was named in honor of Paul Beeson, a luminary in medical education and research. Awardees receive up to $225,000 annually for five years.
Sikandar Khan, D.O., M.S.
In addition to his role as a research scientist and co-director of the COVID-19 recovery program for older adults with the Indiana University Center for Aging Research at Regenstrief Institute, Dr. Khan is an assistant professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and director of the Indiana University Health Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Survivor Center.
About Regenstrief Institute
Founded in 1969 in Indianapolis, the Regenstrief Institute is a local, national and global leader dedicated to a world where better information empowers people to end disease and realize true health. A key research partner to Indiana University, Regenstrief and its research scientists are responsible for a growing number of major healthcare innovations and studies. Examples range from the development of global health information technology standards that enable the use and interoperability of electronic health records to improving patient-physician communications, to creating models of care that inform practice and improve the lives of patients around the globe.
Sam Regenstrief, a nationally successful entrepreneur from Connersville, Indiana, founded the institute with the goal of making healthcare more efficient and accessible for everyone. His vision continues to guide the institute’s research mission.
About IU School of Medicine
IU School of Medicine is the largest medical school in the U.S. and is annually ranked among the top medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The school offers high-quality medical education, access to leading medical research and rich campus life in nine Indiana cities, including rural and urban locations consistently recognized for livability.