SAMBA Committees

Affiliations Committee

Description: The Affiliations Committee is responsible for reviewing and establishing collaborations with local, national, and international organizations with an interest in Office-Based, Ambulatory, and Non-Operating Room Anesthesia. The purpose of these collaborations is to improve patient care and safety by promoting joint education programs including research and providing required representation to establish safe principles of care and accreditation guidelines.

Chair: Kumar Belani, MD – belan001@umn.edu

Vice-Chair: BobbieJean Sweitzer, MD, FACP, SAMBA-F, FASA – bobbie.sweitzer@gmail.com

Board Advisor: Victor Davila, MD – vicdtx@gmail.com 

Members:

John Dilger, MD

Girish Joshi, MB, BS, MD

Arnaldo Valedon, MD

Beverly Philip, MD

Jeffry Brand, MD

Ad Hoc Website Committee

Chair: Kumar Belani, MD – belan001@umn.edu

Vice Chair: Leopoldo Rodriguez, MD, MBA, FAAP, FASA – leopoldorodriguez@icloud.com 

Board Advisor: Basem Abdelmalak, MD, FASA – abdelmb@ccf.org 

Members:
Sher-Lu Pai, MD
BobbieJean Sweitzer, MD
Richard Urman, MD
Alberto Ardon, MD
Catherine Tobin, MD
Michael O’Rourke, MD
Carla Todaro, MD
Tacee Walker, DO
Caryn Hertz, MD
David Beebe, MD
Kapil Gupta, MD
Rosalind Ritchie, MD

Affiliations Committee

Chair: Kumar Belani, MD – belan001@umn.edu

Board Advisor: Victor Davila, MD – vicdtx@gmail.com 

Members:
David Beebe, MD
John Dilger, MD
Girish Joshi, MB, BS, MD
Arnaldo Valedon, MD
Beverly Philip, MD
Jeffry Brand, MD

Bylaws Committee

Chair: Christopher Burkle, MD JD – burkle.christopher@mayo.edu 

Members:
Meena Desai, MD
Barbara Gold, MD
Arnaldo Valedon, MD
Michael Walsh, MD
Alan Marco, MD

Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee

Chair: Niraja Rajan, MD – nrajanmd@yahoo.com

Co-chair: Girish P. Joshi, MB, BD, MD – girish.joshi@utsouthwestern.edu

Board Advisor: Basem Abdelmalak, MD, FASA – abdelmb@ccf.org

Members:
Kumar Belani, MBBS
Tammy Carpenter, MD
Mahesh Nagappa, MD
Meltem Yilmaz, MD
Rebecca Twersky, MD
Richard Urman, MD
Rita Saikali, MD

CME Committee

Chair: Michael O’Rourke, MD – miorouke@lumc.edu

Vice Chair: Julius Pawlowski, MD – jpawlow@lumc.edu

Board Advisor: Fatima Ahmad, MD, MB, BS – fatimaahmad@yahoo.com

Members:
Steve Butz, MD
Michael Presta, DO
Chhaya Patel, MD
Melinda Seering, MD
Beverly Philip, MD
Kenneth Cummings, MD
Nilda Salaman, MD
Meltem Yilmaz, MD
Platt Niebur, MD

Communications Committee

Chair: Sher-Lu Pai, MD –  pai.sherlu@mayo.edu 

Board Advisor: Richard Urman, MD –  bostonworks1@gmail.com

Members:
Mahesh Nagappa, MD
BobbieJean Sweitzer, MD
Alberto Ardon, MD
Tazeen Beg, MD
Kelly Lebak, MD
Ramprasad Sripada, MD
Carla Todaro, MD
Tacee Walker, MD
Nancy Wilkes, MD
Caryn Hertz, MD
Simon Lee, MD
David Beebe, MD
Claude Abdallah, MD
Kumar Belani, MBBS

Development Committee

Chair: Basem Abdelmalak, MD, FASA – abdelmb@ccf.org
Co-Chair: Victor Davila, MD – vicdtx@gmail.com

Members:
David Beebe, MD
Sekar Bhavani, MD
Rosalind Ritchie, MD
Michael Walsh, MD
Alan Marco, MD
Kenneth Cummings, MD
Jarrett Heard, MD

Education Committee

Chair: Catherine Tobin, MD – tobinc@musc.edu

Vice Chair: Christopher Burkle, MD – burkle.christopher@mayo.edu 

Board Advisor: Jaime Hyman, MD – jaime.hyman@mountsinai.org 

Members:
Niraja Rajan, MD
Claude Abdallah, MD, MS
Fatima Ahmad, MD
Kumar G. Belani, MBBS
Kara Barnett, MD
Steven Butz, MD
Curtis Choice, MD
Janette Covington, MD
Chhaya Patel, MD
Karlyn Powell, MD
Fred Shapiro, MD
Ashley Shilling, MD
BobbieJean Sweitzer, MD
Carla Todaro, MD
Connie Khanh Tran, MD
Richard Urman, MD, MBA
Ramakrishna Gumidyala, MD
Julian Naranjo, DO
Megan Rodgers McCormick, DO
Sekar Bhavani, MD
Ramprasad Sripadua, MBBS, MMM, CPE
Arnaldo Valedon, MD
Max Hendrix, MD
Michelle Harvey, MD

Finance Committee

Chair: Steven Butz, MD –  sbutz@mcw.edu
Vice-Chair: Richard Urman, MD –   bostonworks1@gmail.com

Board Advisor: Dawn Schell, MD – schelld@ccf.org

Members:
John George III, MD
Basem Abdelmalak, MD, FASA
Fatima Ahmad, MD
Steven Gayer, MD
Michael Guertin, MD
Monica Servin, MD
Brian Parker, MD
Alan Marco, MD

International Relations Committee

Chair: Victor Davila, MD – vicdtx@gmail.com

Vice-Chair: Simon Lee, MD – simon.lee@emory.edu

Board Advisor: Leopoldo Rodriguez, MD FAAP, FASA – leopoldo@leopoldorodriguez.com

Members:
Arnaldo Valedon, MD
Kapil Gupta, MD
Richard Urman, MD, MBA
Fred Shapiro, DO
Steven Gayer, MD
Sarah Fandre, MD
Gail Granowitz, MD
Sherine Hanna, MD
Sakura Kinjo, MD
Nilda Salaman, MD
Claude Abdallah, MD
Kumar Belani, MBBS
Sergio Bergese, MD
Nancy Wilkes, MD

Meetings Committee

Chair: Steven Butz, MD – sbutz@mcw.edu

Vice-Chair – Basem Abdelmalak, MD, FASA – abdelmb@ccf.org

Board Advisor: Bobbie Jean Sweitzer, MD – bobbie.sweitzer@northwestern.edu

Members:
Fatima Ahmad, MD
Sekar Bhavani, MD
Adam Jacob, MD
Alan Marco, MD
Brian Parker, MD
Beverly Philip, MD
Rebecca Twersky, MD, MPH
Tacee Walker, MD
Nancy Wilkes, MD
Simon Lee, MD
Dawn Schell, MD
Michael Guertin, MD, MBA, CPE, FASA
Michael O’Rourke, MD
Arnaldo Valedon, MD

Membership Committee

Chair: Victor Davila, MD – vicdtx@gmail.com

Board Advisor: Fatima Ahmad, MD – fatimaahmad@yahoo.com

Members:
Arnaldo Valedon, MD
Meena Desai, MD
John George III, MD
Kapil Gupta, MD
Ruchir Gupta, MD
Kelly Lebak, MD
Florin Orza, MD
Tazeen Beg, MD
Monica Servin, MD
Mark Phillips, MD
Leopoldo V. Rodriguez, MD, MBA, FAAP, FASA
Deepak Gupta, MD
Sonia Pyne, MD

Nominations Committee

Chair and Board Advisor: Basem Abdelmalak, MD, FASA – abdelmb@ccf.org

Members:
Kumar Belani, MBBS
Arnaldo Valedon, MD
John Dilger, MD
Michael Walsh, MD
Alan Marco, MD

Non-Operating Room Anesthesia Committee

Co-Chair: Mark Phillips, MD – mphillip@uabmc.edu

Co-Chair: Michael Presta, DO – mpresta1@gmail.com

Board Advisor: Basem Abdelmalak, MD FASA – abdelmb@ccf.org

Members:
Ruchir Gupta, MD
Sekar Bhavani, MD
David Beebe, MD
Tazeen Beg, MD
Tammy Carpenter, MD
Ahmad Elsharydah, MD, MBA
Kapil Gupta, MD
Laurence Hausman, MD
Kelly Lebak, MD
Syed Shah, MD
Allyson Hascall, MD
Tod Brown, MD
Kara Barnett, MD, FASA
Rahel Selassie, MD
Mary Ann Vann, MD
Jeffery Lee, MD
Maria Michaelis, MD
Stephen O’Donnell, MD
Srinivas Pyati, MD
Keira Mason, MD
Hinda Abramoff, DO

Office-Based Anesthesia Committee

Co-Chair: Grace Lee Dorsch, MD – gldorsch@me.com

Co-Chair: Fred Shapiro, DO, FASA – fshapiro@bidmc.harvard.edu

Board Advisor: Michael Walsh, MD – walsh.michael1@mayo.edu

Members:
Rosalind Ritchie, MD
Tazeen Beg, MD
Laurence Hausman, MD
Kelly Lebak, MD
Anu Mann, MD
Keira Mason, MD
Syed Shah, MD
Fred Shapiro, MD
Stephen Smith, MD, DABA
Richard Urman, MD, MBA
Simon Lee, MD
Dee Isackson, MD
Teresa Roberts, MD, FASA
Brandon Wong, MD
Rahel Selassie, MD
Brooke Hobgood, MD
Richard Finder, DMD
Adel Bishai, MD

Performance Measures Committee

Chair: Michael Guertin, MD MBA – michael.guertin@osumc.edu

Board Advisor: Leopoldo V. Rodriguez, MD, MBA, FAAP, FASA – leopoldo@leopoldorodriguez.com

Members:
Kumar Belani, MBBS
Lucinda Everett, MD
Steven Gayer, MD
Rosalind Ritchie, MD
Rebecca Twersky, MD
Richard Urman, MD, MBA
Sonia Pyne, MD
Victor Davila, MD
Tong Gan, MD, MHS, FRCA
Shaina Drummond, MD
Stanford Plavin, MD
E Jane Brock, DO
Timothy Curry, MD
Julie Broussard, MD

Regional Anesthesia Committee

Chair: Alberto Ardon, MD – a.ardon@gmail.com

Vice Chair: Hanae Tokita, MD – tokitah@mskcc.org

Board Advisor: Fatima Ahmad, MD – fatimaahmad@yahoo.com

Members:
Roy Greengrass, MD
Vikram Bansal, MD
Ty Bullard, MD
Audrice Francois, MD
Gail Granowitz, MD
Kapil Gupta, MD
Sakura Kinjo, MD
Alec Lawrence, MD
Karen Nielsen, MD
Olga Nin, MD
Michael O’Rourke, MD
Julius Pawlowski, MD
Ashley Shilling, MD
Ramprasad Sripada, MD
Sylvia Wilson, MD
Ahmad Elsharydah, MD
Jihye Ha, MD
Walter McNally, MD
Platt Niebur, MD
Nathan Painter, MD
Melinda Seering, MD
John George, MD
Bill Weisberg, DO
Lauren Sayre, MD

SAMBA2023 Committee

Chair: Basem Abdelmalak, MD, FASA – abdelmb@ccf.org

Members:
Kumar Belani, MBBS
Victor Davila, MD
Leopoldo Rodriguez, MD, MBA, FAAP, FASA
Bobbie Jean Sweitzer, MD
Dawn Schell, MD
Michael Walsh, MD

Sub-committee on Resident Section

Chair: Mark Jones, MD – mjones13@bidmc.harvard.edu

Board Advisor: Steve Butz, MD – sbutz@mcw.edu

Members:
Fred Shapiro, MD
Ramakrishna Gumidyala, MD
Jarrett Heard, MD
Connie Tran, MD
Chhaya Patel, MD
Hanae Tokita, MD
Matt Novitch, MD

Scientific Papers

Chair: Katie Bridges, MD – bridgek@musc.edu
Vice-Chair: David Beebe, MD – beebe001@umn.edu

Members:
Srini Pyati, MD
Sekar Bhavani, MD
Curtis Choice, MD
Victor Davila, MD
Ahmad Elsharydah, MD, MBA
Audrice Francois, MD
Ruchir Gupta, MD
Kapil Gupta, MD
Alec Lawrence, MD
Catherine Tobin, MD
E. Jane Brock, DO
Carla Todaro, MD
Ashraf Habib, MB
Kara Barnett, MD, FASA
Kenneth Cummings, MD
Jennifer Matos, MD.

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Basem B. Abdelmalak, MD, FASA

Basem B. Abdelmalak, MD, FASA is a professor of anesthesiology at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. He has served in the Department of General Anesthesiology as a Staff Anesthesiologist since 2001. Currently he leads Anesthesia Services for Bronchoscopic Surgery as a NORA service and is the Director of the Center for Sedation implementing the anesthesiology oversight for procedural sedation. He frequently performs the Therapeutic Whole Lung Lavage procedure to treat pulmonary alveolar proteinosis patients.

Dr. Abdelmalak is board-certified in Anesthesiology and fellowship trained in Critical Care medicine. His many clinical interests include anesthesia for ENT and bronchoscopic surgery, difficult airway management.

He served the Ohio Society of Anesthesiologists as its president in 2015 and currently serves the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) as the Vice-chair of the educational track subcommittee on Ambulatory Anesthesia, the Society for Head and Neck Anesthesia (SHANA), as a founding member, and its president

At the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia (SAMBA) he served in many roles and capacities; as a member of the committees on the Annual meeting, NORA, and Finance, and chair of the Development committee for the past 7 years leading SAMBA’s relationships with corporate sponsors, and pharmaceutical and industrial supporters. He then served on the Board of Directors, as a director, Vice President, President –elect, and now as its President.

He is also a part of the Anesthesiology Outcomes Research Department. His research interest is focused on the study of perioperative glycemic management, and he has been the primary investigator of many research projects investigating this and other topics.

He has received numerous honors and awards, including being named one of America’s Top Anesthesiologists according to the Consumers’ Research Council of America and Safety Champion by the Cleveland Clinic Quality Institute. A frequently invited lecturer at national and international conferences, Dr. Abdelmalak authored many scientific articles and book chapters in his field, and recently co-edited two textbooks titled Anesthesia for Otolaryngologic Surgery and Clinical Airway Management; An Illustrated Case Based Approach by Cambridge University Press.  He continues to be heavily involved with the education and training of medical students and residents and recently received the Scholarship in Teaching Award from Case Western Reserve University.

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