SAMBA Past Presidents

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.