Mitchell P. Fink, MD, (Inaugural Chair (2001-2007) Department of Critical Care Medicine University of Pittsburgh was one of the most inspiring and influential leaders in the fields of critical care medicine and trauma and sepsis management. Excelling as a clinician, scientist, and teacher, he was renowned for his astute mentorship and caring career guidance to hundreds of physicians and scientists. A strong advocate for critical care medicine as an emerging discipline, he developed a vision of modern multidisciplinary critical care in academia.
In 2001, his vision came to life with the founding of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, the first stand-alone department of critical care in the United States. Fittingly, he became the inaugural chair of the Department. His clear and strategic vision for modern multidisciplinary critical care has left lasting benefits for the entire field.
Mitch Fink’s prolific scientific career began with a first-author paper in Nature while still in medical school. Over a 40-year span, he amassed more than 300 peer-reviewed publications for experimental and clinical research.
His spirit lives on in the Department’s celebration of critical care scholarship at the 2023 Mitchell P. Fink Scholar Day.
Plenary Speaker Burton W. Lee, MD, FCCP
Dr. Lee is the Head of Medical Education and the Head of Global Critical Care in the Critical Care Medicine Department at the National Institutes of Health. Through the Global Critical Care Consortium, he is currently working to develop a collaboration among academic medical centers in the US to support critical care practice, training, and research in low-middle income countries.
Early in his career, he served in various leadership roles at Medstar Washington Hospital Center including as the Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit and the Director of the Pulmonary Critical Care and Critical Care Fellowship Programs. He developed several innovative educational initiatives such as co-founding of the DC-Baltimore Critical Care Education Consortium and creation of the year-long Fundamentals of Mechanical Ventilation Preceptorial Course for fellows. He has also championed medical educational efforts globally, especially in resource-limited countries.
From 2016-2020, Dr. Lee served as a Professor of Medicine at University of Pittsburgh, where he was a director of several medical student courses including the second-year pulmonary physiology course, the fourth-year ICU Clerkship, and the Scientific Literacy & Numeracy elective. He also created the Medical Education Laboratory Think Tank in the Division of Pulmonary Allergy and Critical Care Medicine to encourage and mentor young medical educators at University of Pittsburgh.
Fink Scholar Abstract Winners
Congratulations to the four winners of the Fink Scholar Day abstract competition. This year’s competition saw a record number of 30 abstracts!
- Caitlin McNamara, T32 Critical Care Medicine Post Doctoral Scholar, “Seizure Prophylaxis in Young Children with Abusive Head Trauma or Accidental Traumatic Brain Injury”
- Erin Feeney, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, General Surgery Resident, “Beyond the Count: Revealing Platelet Dysfunction in Pediatric Trauma”
- Peter Nauka, PACCM Fellow-PGY 5, “Discordance Between Clinician Actions and Artificial Intelligence Recommendations in the Treatment of Sepsis”
- Gitouf Elnema, first year adult Internal Medicine Critical Care fellow, “Asynchronous Online Fundamental Critical Care Education Curriculum for Internal Medicine Residents in a Busy Academic Teaching Hospital”