PHILADELPHIA — Clifford S. Deutschman, MD, MS, professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care and director of the Sepsis Research Program at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has been named as the President of the Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM).
"The Presidency of the SCCM is a great honor but also a tremendous responsibility. Appropriately representing nearly 16,000 health care professionals whose mission is to care for the very sickest patients is a challenge that I'm eager to take on," said Dr. Deutschman. "Fortunately, I will be able to rely on the SCCM professional staff, a remarkable group of dedicated individuals, and will be aided by the leadership and hard work of the SCCM Executive Committee and Council."
The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) is the largest multiprofessional organization dedicated to ensuring excellence and consistency in the practice of critical care. With members in more than 100 countries, SCCM is the only organization that represents all professional components of the critical care team. In his role as SCCM President, Dr. Deutschman will serve as the Society's primary spokesperson while helping the organization carry out its mission to secure the highest quality care for all critically ill and injured patients.
At Penn, Dr. Deutschman cares for critically ill surgical patients as a member of the multi-disciplinary Surgical Critical Care Service at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He has been involved in the clinical education of numerous medical students, residents in Anesthesiology, Surgery and Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Fellows based in Anesthesiology, Surgery, Pulmonary Medicine and Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Deutschman has been an NIH-funded laboratory investigator since 1993. His primary focus is on the effects of experimental sepsis on hepatic signal transduction, cytokine responses, mitochondrial dysfunction and inhibition of electron transport, heat shock protein biology, inflammatory lung injury and the use of gene therapy to alter pulmonary responses. Numerous research fellows have made this work possible. Several have become independent investigators. Dr. Deutschman has served on the NIH Surgery, Anesthesia and Trauma Study Section and participated in the review of VA Merit Awards.
He received a B.S. in Chemistry from Trinity College, an M.S. in Chemistry from Northwestern University and his M.D. from New York Medical College. He completed his residency in Anesthesiology and Critical Care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University and joined the Penn Medicine community in 1993.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.