Dr. Dean B. Andropoulos, Anesthesiologist-in-Chief at Texas Children's Hospital, Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

HOUSTON (Aug. 9, 2024) — Texas Children’s is thrilled to announce that Dr. Dean B. Andropoulos, Anesthesiologist-in-Chief and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Texas Children’s Hospital, has been named the recipient of the Dolly D. Hansen Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society (CCAS).

The award was presented to Dr. Andropoulos — who, in addition to his role at Texas Children’s, is Professor of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics and Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Anesthesiology at Baylor College of Medicine— at the CCAS annual meeting in Anaheim, CA. 

“I am truly grateful for this honor and humbled by this recognition,” said Dr. Andropoulos. “I’m proud to be a member of the CCAS, and to see how our society has grown over the past 20 years — and I am forever grateful to Texas Children’s Hospital. From our incredible CEO, Mark A. Wallace, to all levels of leadership and my physician and nursing colleagues, I am amazed by the passion, expertise, creativity and problem-solving abilities our hospital brings to an increasingly complex population of patients. Every single day I get to work with this fantastic group of dedicated physicians, I learn something new.” 

“The first word that comes to mind when I think of Dr. Andropoulos is influential,” said Mark A. Wallace, CEO of Texas Children’s Hospital, in a video message played during the award ceremony. “He’s not just a physician; he is a leader, in every sense of the word. Dean possesses a unique blend of expertise, empathy and decisiveness. In the high-pressure environment of surgery, he inspires his team to be the calm amidst the storm, ensuring the safety and comfort of his patients at every step. Dean, it is my sincere honor to congratulate you on this incredible achievement. Thank you for being the remarkable, steadfast and influential leader that you are. Congratulations.”

CCAS is a section of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA). Over the past two decades, it has grown to include more than 600 national and international members and has partnered with multiple organizations to improve the perioperative care of children and adults with congenital heart disease.

The CCAS Lifetime Achievement Award was designed to acknowledge a lifetime contribution to the society’s mission, which is to improve the perioperative care and outcomes, and facilitate technological advances in therapy for newborns, infants and children with cardiovascular disease, congenital or acquired, and adults with congenital heart disease requiring anesthetic care.   

As the founding president of CCAS, Dr. Andropoulos has faithfully pursued its mission throughout his career. He received his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego in 1984, completed his Pediatrics and Anesthesiology residencies at the University of California, San Francisco and earned a master’s degree in Healthcare Management from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Andropoulos is the editor of two foundational textbooks — Anesthesia for Congenital Heart Disease, and Gregory’s Pediatric Anesthesia – and the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and 50 textbook chapters relating to pediatric anesthetic research and clinical care. His research interests include neurological outcomes and brain protection for infant cardiac surgery, as well as clinical studies of anesthetic neurotoxicity. Dr. Andropoulos was co-principal investigator for the Texas Children’s Hospital/BCM Pediatric Heart Network Core Clinical Center – a National Institutes of Health-funded clinical research network, and he was the principal investigator for the Dexmedetomidine Study of the Pediatric Heart Network, which investigated a new anesthetic technique for infant cardiac surgery.

In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, Dr. Andropoulos was President/CEO of the Pediatric Anesthesia Leadership Council. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Board and is the Medical Officer of the SmartTots organization, a public private partnership of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the International Anesthesia Research Society.

At Texas Children’s, Dr. Andropoulos leads a department of more than 100 board-certified pediatric anesthesiologists, 35 certified registered nurse anesthetists, 20 fellows and residents and 20 pediatric nurse practitioners performing more than 53,000 anesthetics annually ranging from simple outpatient surgeries, to complex cardiac and neurosurgical cases. Texas Children’s Department of Anesthesiology is a national leader in clinical care, safety and quality, education and research, working closely with Texas Children’s Heart Center — ranked number one in the nation for pediatric cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News and World Report for seven consecutive years.

Learn more about Texas Children’s Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine.

ABOUT TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

Texas Children’s, a nonprofit health care organization, is committed to creating a healthier future for children and women throughout the global community by leading in patient care, education and research. Consistently ranked as the best children’s hospital in Texas and among the top in the nation, Texas Children’s has garnered widespread recognition for its expertise and breakthroughs in pediatric and women’s health. The system includes the Texas Children’s Duncan NRI; the Feigin Tower for pediatric research; Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, a comprehensive obstetrics/gynecology facility focusing on high-risk births; Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, a community hospital in suburban West Houston; Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, the first hospital devoted to children’s care for communities north of Houston and Texas Children’s Hospital North Austin, the new state-of-the-art facility providing world-class pediatric and maternal care to Austin families. The organization also created Texas Children’s Health Plan, the nation’s first HMO focused on children; Texas Children’s Pediatrics, the largest pediatric primary care network in the country; Texas Children’s Urgent Care clinics that specialize in after-hours care tailored specifically for children; and a global health program that is channeling care to children and women all over the world. Texas Children’s Hospital is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine. For more information, visit https://www.texaschildrens.org.