2025 AAAC Council Candidates
Listed Alphabetically by Last Name
Candidates for Councilor
- Rebecca A. Aslakson, MD, PhD, FAAHPM, FCCM
- Dan E. Berkowitz, MB, BCh
- Lisa Leffert, MD
- Michael Nurok, MBChB, PhD, FCCM
Candidate for Councilor
Rebecca A. Aslakson, MD, PhD, FAAHPM, FCCM
University of Vermont Medical Center
Thank you for the opportunity to be considered for an open Councilor position in AAAC/SAAAPM leadership. Having served as Chair of the Network Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Vermont Health Network since 2022, I lead a Department of approximately 70 anesthesia physicians and 50 APP’s that staff one rural academic medical center, two rural community hospitals, and two critical access hospitals in highly rural areas. A key accomplishment for me thusfar as Chair is creation and multi-year dissemination and iterative innovation of a compensation plan that unites the diverse Network Department sites, potentiates recruitment and retention, and facilitates practitioners moving between sites to better optimize access and address varying anesthesia practitioner shortages. Throughout this tenure, I have benefited highly from AAAC/SAAAPM programs and services, whether they be the monthly video calls for female Anesthesia Chairs, the webinars for me when I was a New Chair, or the excellent programming and networking at the Annual Meeting. I am excited and motivated to give back and to participate in AAAC/SAAAPM through this leadership role.
Candidate for Councilor
Dan E. Berkowitz, MB, BCh
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
Dr. Dan E. Berkowitz is a renowned clinician-scientist and academic leader in the field of Anesthesia. He obtained his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa before completing his residency in anesthesia and a fellowship in cardiac anesthesia at Duke University. Following his fellowship, Dr. Berkowitz joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins University where he spent 25 years as a clinician-scientist and academic leader. During his time at Johns Hopkins, he made significant contributions to the field of vascular pathobiology as an NIH funded researcher. He also held several leadership roles, including Director of Cardiac Anesthesia and Vice-Chair for Research. His leadership skills were recognized when he was appointed Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2019. Under Dr. Berkowitz's leadership, the Department of Anesthesiology at UAB has continued to be a leader in patient care, research, and education. He has worked to recruit and retain top talent, enhance the department's infrastructure, and expand its clinical programs. Dr. Berkowitz has also played an important role in advancing the field of anesthesiology through his involvement in professional organizations including the IARS and AUA. Dr. Berkowitz's commitment to excellence in patient care, research, and education has earned him widespread respect and admiration from his colleagues and peers.
Candidate for Councilor
Lisa Leffert, MD
Yale Medicine
It would be my tremendous pleasure and honor to continue to serve on the AAAC Council as your representative. As I am now in my 5th year as Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at Yale School of Medicine/Yale New Haven Health System, and my first year on the Board of Directors of the Hospital, I have the privilege of being heavily integrated into the major strategic fiscal, operational, and research missions of an academic medical center. It is my intent to bring this lens, and my longstanding commitment to and formal roles in faculty development, to serving our community.
Candidate for Councilor
Michael Nurok, MBChB, PhD, FCCM
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Michael Nurok, MBChB, PhD, FCCM serves as co-Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, and Chair of the Bioethics Committee at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. His clinical practice focuses on cardiothoracic anesthesiology and critical care and his research interests are in the sociology of healthcare delivery. His perspectives on transforming care have been featured in the Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, and other professional and lay publications.
