Steven Shafer

Steven L. Shafer, MD Anesthesiologist Professor of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine (Adult MSD) at the Stanford University Medical Center My professional interests are data modeling, the clinical pharmacology of intravenous anesthetic drugs, and publication policy and ethics. Since March I have been modeling the COVID-19 pandemic. The R code is freely available at https://github.com/StevenLShafer/COVID19/. My daily updates are distributed by e-mail. Those interested in receiving the updates are welcome to contact me at steven.shafer@stanford.edu.

My work in pharmacology includes studies of many of the intravenous opioids and hypnotics used in anesthetic practice. My focus has been mathematical models that characterize drug behavior. These range from conventional pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic models, inverse models (used to drive target controlled infusion systems), Bayesian models (used to handle model uncertainty), models of drug interaction, and models of receptor function that help elucidate mechanisms of drug action. My most recent work has explored whether neural networks offer any benefits over the standard engineering models used in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

I have worked to bring these models to clinicians, investigators, and trainees. Thirty years ago I placed the program STANPUMP ("STANford infusion PUMP") in the public domain. STANPUMP was an open source software platform for Target Controlled Infusions of anesthetic drugs, as well as the pharmacokinetic engine for most, and perhaps all, commercialized TCI systems worldwide. More recently I have developed stanpumpR, an R implementation of pharmacokinetic algorithms for many of the common perioperative drugs. stanpumpR can be accessed at www.stanpumpR.io. The source code for stanpumpR is available at www.github.com/stevenlshafer/stanpumpr.

My work in publication policy and ethics follows my 10 years as Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia. From 2006-2016 we uncovered two of the most prolific serial academic fraudsters in history: Joachim Boldt and Yoshitaka Fujii. I finished my term as EIC with the unenviable record of retracting more papers for research fraud than any previous editor of any journal, ever. This led to a lasting interest in publication policy and ethics. In collaboration with others I continue to develop statistical models to detect fraud, and serve on multiple editorial boards to offer guidance on publication policy and ethics.

I developed an interested in the role of clinical pharmacology to criminal law following my testimony on behalf of the State of California in the trial of Conrad Murray for the death Michael Jackson. I continue to provide pro bono testimony in criminal cases involving anesthetic drugs.

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

• Fellowship: Stanford University School of Medicine Registrar (1987) CA
• Residency: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (1986) PA
• Medical Education: Stanford University School of Medicine (1983) CA
• Board Certification: American Board of Anesthesiology, Anesthesia (1987)
• Internship: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (1984) PA
• Post-Doctoral, Stanford University, Clinical Pharmacology (1987)
• Residency, University of Pennsylvania, Anesthesiology (1986)
• MD, Stanford University, Medicine (1983)
• AB, Princeton University, Biology (1978)

HONORS & AWARDS

• Bernard H. Eliasberg Medal, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY (2006)
• Corresponding Member, German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (2009)
• David M. Little Prize, Anesthesia History Association (2013)
• Ellis Gillespie Lecture, Australian and New Zealand College fo Anaesthetists (2008)
• FAER Honorary Research Lecture, American Society of Anesthesiologists (2008)
• Fellowship by Election, The Royal College of Anaesthetists (2003)
• Gold Medal, Royal College of Anaesthetists (2013)
• Honorary Fellow, College of Anaesthetists of Ireland (2012)
• Honorary Member, German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (2013)
• Leon Goldberg Lecture, University of Chicago (2010)
• Lifetime Achievement Award, International Society of Anaesthetic Pharmacology (2011)
• Ralph Waters Visiting Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin (2009)
• Rank Visiting Lecturer, Royal College of Anaesthetists (2008)
• Sir Ivan Magill Inaugural Lecture, College of Anaesthetists of Ireland (2012)
• Stephen J. Prevoznik Lecture, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pennsylvania (2009)
• Terry Davidson Plenary Lecture, Israel Society of Anesthesiologists (2011)
• Virginia Apgar Lecture, Department of Anesthesiology, Columbia University (2008)

PUBLICATIONS

• The influence of age on propofol pharmacodynamics. Schnider, T. W., Minto, C. F., Shafer, S. L., Gambus, P. L., Andresen, C., Goodale, D. B., & Youngs, E. J. (1999). The influence of age on propofol pharmacodynamics. ANESTHESIOLOGY, 90(6), 1502–1516.
• Drug interactions. Applications in fast-track anesthesia. Shafer, S. L. (1999). Drug interactions. Applications in fast-track anesthesia. Acta Anaesthesiologica Belgica, 50(4), 153–160.
• Comparison of plasma compartment versus two methods for effect compartment-controlled target-controlled infusion for propofol. Struys, M. M. R. F., De Smet, T., Depoorter, B., Versichelen, L. F. M., Mortier, E. P., Dumortier, F. J. E., … Rolly, G. (2000). Comparison of plasma compartment versus two methods for effect compartment-controlled target-controlled infusion for propofol. ANESTHESIOLOGY, 92(2), 399–406.