Peter Nagele, MD, Professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care at the University of Chicago, has been named a 2022 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals. This distinction is among the highest in the scientific community and honors scientists, engineers, and innovators whose efforts on behalf of science and its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished. A tradition dating back to 1874, election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor, and all Fellows are expected to maintain the highest standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.
Prof. Peter Nagele has built a pioneering interdisciplinary research program that interfaces with anesthesiology, psychiatry, neuropharmacology, and behavioral sciences, where his team made the seminal discovery that the oldest anesthetic in medical use – nitrous oxide – is a rapid and effective treatment for otherwise treatment-resistant depression. His research has opened a new field of scientific investigation with a potential to provide help for millions of patients who suffer from one of the most severe forms of major depression. The AAAS cited his “distinguished contributions to translational neuropsychiatric pharmacology, particularly for work on the utility of nitrous oxide in managing symptoms of treatment-resistant major depression.”
Nagele is a former recipient of a FAER mentored research training grant (2008), the Presidential Scholar Award from the American Society of Anesthesiologists (2012), NARSAD Independent Investigator Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (2016), the Ziskind-Somerfeld Research Award from the Society for Biological Psychiatry (2016), a $1m national focus grant from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (2017), and the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Arts (2021). He is an elected member of the FAER Academy of Research Mentors in Anesthesiology and ASA Committee on Research.