Condolences on death of Professor Brian Kavanagh
It is with great sadness that we learned
that Brian Kavanagh passed away on Saturday June 15th, 2019.
Brian Kavanagh graduated from University College Dublin in Ireland in 1985. He undertook basic specialist training in Internal Medicine in Dublin then went to the University of Toronto to complete anesthesia residency and fellowship training. He completed additional clinical and research fellowship training in Critical Care Medicine at Stanford. He was appointed staff anesthesiologist and intensivist at the Toronto General Hospitalin 1994, and establishing his first independent laboratory there. In 1999, Brian was recruited as a clinician-scientist to the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children.
Brian was professor in the Department of Anesthesia at the University of Toronto, he held the Geoffrey Barker Chair in Critical Care Medicine and was a staff intensivist in the Pediatric ICU at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Brian was the Chair of Critical Care Canada Forum; was an Associate Editor of Critical Care and an Executive Editor of Anesthesiology.
In 2017 he completed two very successful terms as Chair, Department of Anesthesia at the University of Toronto.A brilliant and highly innovative researcher, his research programmes focused on ventilator-induced lung injury and the actions of carbon dioxide in the lung.
Brian was awarded an honorary Fellowship of the College of Anaesthetists in 2004, and honorary Fellowship of the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Irelandin 2018 in recognition of the substantial contribution Brian made to Anaesthesiology and Intensive care medicine internationally, and the strong support he provided to Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine in Ireland.
Brian provided mentorship and guidance to large numbers of Irish-based Intensivists and Anaesthesiologists that completed training in Toronto. He was always extremely generous with his time, he provided insightful and sound advice, his door was always open to Irish trainees, and he continued to provide mentorship and support to many of them in their later careers in Ireland
At this very sad time, our thoughts go out to his family and all of his friends and colleagues around the world who have been touched by his brilliance and friendship.
Prof John Laffey
Dr John Bates, Dean JFICMI
Dr Brian Kinirons, President CAI