Northwell Health’s Clifford S. Deutschman recognized with Shock Society’s Scientific Achievement Award

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to an infection spirals out of control, damaging the body's own tissues potentially leading to organ failure and death. Currently, there is no single standard of care for this often-fatal condition. For his dedication to sepsis research and discovery of new therapies to treat inflammation, Clifford S. Deutschman, MD, vice chair of research in the Department of Pediatrics at Northwell Health’s Cohen Children’s Medical Center and professor in the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Northwell’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, has been awarded the Scientific Achievement Award at the 48^th Annual Conference on Shock on June 3 in Boston, MA.

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Dr. Deutschman has committed this career to critical care medicine, with an international reputation for his research on sepsis and shock. His work spans trying to better understand molecular mechanisms of sepsis-induced organ dysfunction to refining the clinical definitions of sepsis itself. His research investigates how sepsis disrupts endocrine, neural and cellular functions, focusing particularly on mitochondrial dysfunction and altered signal transmission in key organs like the heart, lung, liver and kidneys. He also studies the initiation of chronic inflammation by the central nervous system.

“There are more than 11 million sepsis-related deaths each year, and for more than four decades I have been focused on how to better understand this complex and all-too-often fatal disorder. I am honored to be recognized by my Shock Society colleagues with the Scientific Achievement Award,” said Dr. Deutschman. “But research is performed by teams, so this honor really belongs to the many individuals who have contributed to our ongoing efforts at unraveling the complexities of sepsis. I look forward to future investigations and the potential to use what we learn to improve the care of patients with sepsis.”

Dr. Deutschman, a leader in critical care medicine, is a Master of Critical Care Medicine (MCCM) — a distinction held by only about 100 individuals worldwide. He served as president of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the American Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists. His contributions to the field extend to editorial leadership as the scientific editor of Critical Care Medicine and permanent membership on the National Institutes of Health’s Surgery, Anesthesia and Trauma Study Section, a group that reviews applications examining the complementary disciplines of surgery and anesthesiology. Among his numerous awards and honors is the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists.

He has also co-authored more than 160 peer-reviewed publications, and over 90 book chapters and editorials. He is the co-editor of three editions of the textbook, Evidence-Based Practice of Critical Care.

“Dr. Deutschman’ pioneering research into the how sepsis affects the body, particularly his work on mitochondrial dysfunction, the central nervous system’s role in inflammation, and the refinement of sepsis definitions, has significantly advanced our understanding of this complex and life-threatening condition,” said Charles Schleien, MD, MBA, senior vice president and chair of pediatric services at Northwell Health and the Philip Lanzkowsky Chair and Professor of Pediatrics and Anesthesiology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. “His recognition with the Shock Society’s Scientific Achievement award is well-deserved.”

The Shock Society was founded in 1978 by a group of dedicated clinicians and researchers whose mission is to improve the care of victims of trauma, shock and sepsis by promoting clinically relevant research, providing a multidisciplinary forum to integrate and disseminate new knowledge, and promoting the education and mentoring of the next generation of investigators in the field.

About the Feinstein Institutes

The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research is the home of the research institutes of Northwell Health, the largest health care provider and private employer in New York State. Encompassing 50+ research labs, 3,000 clinical research studies and 5,000 researchers and staff, the Feinstein Institutes raises the standard of medical innovation through its six institutes of behavioral science, bioelectronic medicine, cancer, health system science, molecular medicine, and translational research. We are the global scientific leader in bioelectronic medicine – an innovative field of science that has the potential to revolutionize medicine. The Feinstein Institutes publishes two open-access, international peer-reviewed journals Molecular Medicine and Bioelectronic Medicine. Through the Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine, we offer an accelerated PhD program. For more information about how we produce knowledge to cure disease, visit http://feinstein.northwell.edu and follow us on LinkedIn.

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