Diversity & Inclusion

Mission: The UT Southwestern Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management fundamentally seeks to produce world-class clinical care, outstanding education, and novel research in the realms of perioperative, peripartum, and pain medicine. Integral to these goals is our desire to partner with and support our surgical, interventional, and obstetric colleagues. In the same spirit we seek to facilitate the success of our hospitals; and to provide a nurturing, diverse, and inclusive environment in which our Faculty and Staff can find professional fulfillment, enjoy personal and team success, and develop careers that take them to the forefront of modern medical science and practice.

Vision: The UT Southwestern Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management will be the recognized leader in creating, developing, implementing and teaching innovative approaches to perioperative clinical care, education, and research in an ever-evolving healthcare environment. We fundamentally believe that the success of our department is inseparable from the success of our colleagues and institutions and must be achieved together. We will strive to leverage a diverse and inclusive workforce to achieve the best outcomes for our patients and their families.

Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, UTSW

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Group

Patrick N. Olomu, MD, Vice-Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

1. Patrick Olomu, MD**	Professor (Vice-Chair, DEI)	Children’s Health
2. Tiffany Moon, MD*	Associate Professor	Parkland
3. Jaffer Odeh, MD*	Associate Professor	CUH
4. Stephanie Jones, MD*	Associate Professor	CUH/Pain
5. Ejike Okoro, MD*	Assistant Professor	CUH
6. Ashley Bocanegra, MD*	Assistant Professor	Children’s
7. Anupama Wadhwa, MD*	Professor	CUH
8. Shaina Drummond, MD	Assistant Professor	Parkland/ASC
9. Enas Kandil, MD	Associate Professor	Parkland
10. Brenda Anyaehie, MD	Assistant Professor	Parkland/OB
11. Lyndsey Grover, MD	Associate Professor	Children’s Health
12. Megha Patel, MD	Assistant Professor	Children’s Health
13. Toy Ogunkua, MD	Assistant Professor	Parkland
14. Miakka Smith, MD	Assistant Professor	Parkland
15. Peiman Lahsaei, MD	Assistant Professor	CUH/Parkland
16. Julie Mani, MD	Assistant Professor	Parkland/Children’s
17. Sam Sum-Ping, MD	Professor	Dallas VA
18. Amy Woods, MD	Associate Professor	Parkland
19. Humair Rana, MD	Associate Professor	Parkland/Pain
20. Dana Darwish, DO	Assistant Professor	CUH
21. Chelsea Thomas, MD	Assistant Professor	Parkland
22. Ashley Joseph, MD	Assistant Professor	Children’s Health
23. Rhae Battles, MD	Assistant Professor	Children’s Health
24. Marco Aguirre, MD	Associate Professor	CUH/CT Anesthesia

**Vice-Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

*Steering Committee Members

COMMITTEE GOALS

The Anesthesiology and Pain Management Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Group serves to promote respect and value for every member of our department. Members represent their clinical sites and work closely with the DEI Vice-Chair to ensure that all voices are heard. The Vice-Chair works closely with the Chair and other Vice-Chairs/Directors to promote excellence in DEI with regards to clinical practice, education, research, and recruitment. This includes ensuring recruitment and support of a diverse cohort of anesthesia residents and anesthesia fellows. We also strive to ensure that departmental policies, practices, and guidelines are grounded in the tenets of equity, justice, and inclusiveness.

DEMOGRAPHICS

3:4

Faculty Male/Female Ratio

6:5

Resident Male/Female Ratio

5

Veterans Among Residents

Meet the Faculty

Patrick Olomu, MD

Tiffany Moon, MD

Jaffer Odeh, MD

Cary Council Award DocStars Award

Proshad Efune, MD is a dual trained pediatric anesthesiologist and pediatric critical care medicine physician. She is an early stage clinical researcher whose focus has been on the perioperative care of pediatric patients. Most recently, she has begun exploring enhanced respiratory physiological monitoring in the perioperative arena, and was awarded a one-year, $50,000 DocStars Grant Award from the Cary Council for support of her study entitled “Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA): A prospective observational study for predicting postoperative respiratory events on the first night after adenotonsillectomy (AT). The overall aim of this pilot study is to identify risk factors for respiratory adverse events on the first night after adenotonsillectomy children with severe obstructive sleep apnea.

CAYENNE L. PRICE, MD
Recipient of the 2022 Ho Din Award

We want to CONGRATULATE incoming intern Cayenne Price on her recognition as the Ho Din Award winner for the 2022 graduating class at UTSW!!
Cayenne is the first African American to receive this prestigious award in its almost 80-year history.
WE ARE DELIGHTED TO HAVE HER JOIN US in July!! See attached announcement which appeared in the Commencement booklet.

We are proud to announce that the UT Southwestern Class of 2022 Ho Din Award winner is Dr. Cayenne Price. The Southwestern Medical Foundation’s website explains the award:

“In 1943, at the first meeting of the Board of Trustees of Southwestern Medical College, The Ho Din Award was instituted by the Southwestern Medical Foundation to recognize those who exemplify the unique personal qualities embodied in all great physicians – medical wisdom combined with human understanding. It represents the ideals and aspirations on which the school was built and continues to be the highest honor bestowed on a UT Southwestern medical student today.”

Cayenne graduated with honors from Southern Methodist University with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physiology & Health Management, and she earned a full merit-based scholarship to attend UT Southwestern (UTSW). Since her arrival to UTSW, she has distinguished herself as a scholar, servant leader, and empathic caregiver.

Cayenne’s academic record at UTSW has been excellent. She achieved a 3.93 GPA and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society (AOA) in her senior year. In addition to her schoolwork, she pursued several scholarly projects while in school, including two with our department: “Novel Use of Methadone in the Burn Patient” with Dr. Aditee Ambardekar, and “Delayed Onset Cervical Epidural Abscess After Cervical Epidural Steroid Injection: A Case Report” with Dr. Daltry Dott.

Beyond her stellar academic performance, Cayenne was very involved in extracurricular activities. She was involved in 16 organizations and held leadership roles in most. Cayenne’s activities are closely aligned with her values and fully commits herself in the activities she chooses. With an early interest in anesthesiology, she sought opportunities with the Anesthesiology Student Interest Group (ASIG) and was elected one of the two officers for her class during her first year at UTSW. She also has an interest in global health and was a service trip officer and logistics coordinator, coordinating a medical service trip to the Dominican Republic with the Foundation for Peace. Finally, Cayenne has a passion for systemic racism in healthcare and was involved in producing an informational video on how physicians can be leaders in supporting social change.

Cayenne earned superlative praise in nearly every medical school clerkship and was consistently described as “beyond her peers” with her broad foundation knowledge and advanced application of concepts. She provided compassionate care to her patients, easily developing rapport, and crafting plans that incorporated patient preference with evidence

based practice. Due to her exceptional and empathic care of patients, she was nominated by her peers and accepted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS).

Cayenne was selected as this year’s Pepper Jenkins Outstanding Medical Student in Anesthesiology, and she will be joining our residency program in a few weeks. She has a bright future in anesthesiology, and we are delighted she chose to continue her training with us.