Elliott Bennett-Guerrero, MD, is a leader in clinical trials involving surgical patients. Since 2015, he has served as a professor and vice chairman of Stony Brook Medicine's department of anesthesiology. Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero spearheaded a research study by Stony Brook Medicine to see if administration of convalescent plasma from COVID-19 survivors' could treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The researchers studied the use of convalescent therapy for COVID-19 treatment not long after the emergence of the pandemic and published their results in Critical Care Medicine.
Convalescent plasma therapy is a treatment approach for some infectious diseases. Convalescent plasma therapy involves extracting blood plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 infection. Blood plasma is the clear (somewhat yellow) fluid in which red blood cells and blood platelets are suspended. Plasma contains antibodies that provide a natural/endogenous defense against infectious diseases. The body produces different types of antibodies in response to different infectious invaders, and the antibodies delay the progression of the infection and can destroy the infectious agent. Extracting convalescent plasma for COVID-19 involves collecting blood from recovered individuals, separating the red blood cells and platelets from the plasma, returning the red blood cells and platelets into the individual's circulatory system, and storing the plasma in a controlled environment (freezer or refrigerator depending on storage life) to preserve the antibodies within it. Convalescent plasma must be free of infectious agents, e.g. hepatitis virus, to prevent infecting the recipient. When the plasma is injected into a patient with an infection, it is postulated that the antibodies within the plasma can facilitate the patient's immune system to fight the infection better, fostering recovery and preventing further complications from the infection.
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In addition to his roles as professor and medical director at the Stony Brook School of Medicine, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero serves as vice chair of clinical research for the school’s Department of Anesthesiology. In 2020 and 2021, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero completed and published research on the high SARS exposure rates among people in direct contact with COVID-19 patients.
SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) is a respiratory disease that researchers first identified at the beginning of 2003 after a Chinese outbreak that ultimately spread to four additional countries. The scientific community determined that a SARS-associated coronavirus was responsible for the disease. Much like influenza and the common cold, it can spread through the air in tiny droplets of saliva. Symptoms of SARS include fever, head and muscle pain, coughing, and serious breathing problems that can result in low blood oxygen levels and the need for mechanical ventilation. Although there is no cure for SARS, medical professionals suggest measures such as quarantining and contact tracing as key prevention measures. A doctor of medicine who has completed extensive clinical research, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero has been professor and vice chair for clinical research at the Stony Brook School of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology since 2005. Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero is also Stony Brook’s medical director for perioperative quality and patient safety.
Defined by its prefix “peri,” which means “around” or “about,” the term “perioperative” refers to the entire on-site surgical process, ranging from the moment that a patient first considers surgery to the moment that he or she receives a postoperative discharge. Encompassing all phases and aspects of the surgical process in the broadest sense, perioperative is a multidisciplinary specialty that is uniquely centered on the patient. Taking a truly holistic approach to treatment progression, perioperative medicine runs contrary to traditional models that are categorized and divided by stages of care (for example, preoperative, operative, and postoperative) or areas of professional activity (for example, the administration of anesthetics and the use of monitoring equipment). Through its wide purview, perioperative medicine can better assess overall success when it comes to meeting patient needs.elliottbennettguerrero.wordpress.com/ A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Elliott Bennett-Guerrero is currently a professor and vice chairman at Stony Brook Medicine. He is an active physician and specializes in critical care medicine. During his career, Elliott Bennett-Guerrero has conducted studies on the safety and effectiveness of blood transfusions.
A blood transfusion is a process in which a patient receives blood from a donor. It usually occurs through a tube that is connected to a vein in a patient’s arm. A blood transfusion may be necessary during a procedure or a disease. Blood is composed of red blood cells which carry oxygen through the body, white blood cells which assist the body in fighting infection, plasma which is the liquid component of the blood, and platelets that contribute to the clotting process. In most blood transfusion procedures, only particular components of blood are used, but in some cases all the components of blood are transferred. A person can only receive blood from others that is of a compatible type, otherwise a complication may occur, such as an acute immune hemolytic reaction. In this reaction, the body has an immune reaction to the transfused blood components. This may lead to kidney damage. A board-certified anesthesiologist, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero is a professor of anesthesiology and the director of perioperative quality and patient safety at Stony Brook Medicine. Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero currently runs a clinical study which centers on developing a cure for patients infected with the novel coronavirus at Stony Brook Medicine.
In the early months of 2020, Stony Brook initiated a double-blind randomized study to investigate the efficacy of convalescent blood plasma in treating hospitalized patients who are diagnosed with a COVID-19 infection. Convalescent blood plasma is extracted from people who had previously contracted COVID-19 but have fully recovered. To confirm eligibility to donate convalescent blood plasma, each person undergoes a COVID-19 point-of-care-test (a serological test ) to check if their serum has an adequate level of IgG antibodies. They then need to meet routine blood transfusion criteria such as adequate weight and age., and also must be free from transmissible diseases. Since 2015, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero has served as a vice chairman and professor at Stony Brook Medicine and is an active clinician working in the Intensive Care Unit. Currently, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero is leading a study to discern if blood plasma from people who have recovered from Covid-19 could possibly be the key to finding a potential cure for the disease.
The federally approved research project aims to determine whether recovered patients have convalescent plasma in their blood that contains antibodies to fight Covid-19 and could contribute to the development of a treatment. Researchers at Stony Brook Medicine, who sought blood donations from Covid-19 survivors, believe that the plasma could help to boost the immune systems of people who are battling Covid-19 and ultimately help them to recover from the disease. Throughout history, antibody-rich plasma has been used to treat disease, such as during the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the 1918 influenza epidemic. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero, MD, has served as a professor and vice chairman at Stony Brook Medicine since 2015. He also functions in the role of medical director for perioperative quality and patient safety. Recently, Elliott Bennett-Guerrero has focused on treating patients who are in intensive care due to COVID-19.
In this position he has taken the lead on an important research project designed to determine whether or not convalescent blood plasma taken from recovered patients can provide a critical immune system boost to patients fighting severe, life-threatening COVID infections. Plasma therapy has a long medical history. It was first used during the 1890s during outbreaks of influenza, measles, and mumps. Put simply, blood plasma taken from healthy patients contains antibodies that have been specifically created to fight off a target infection. By introducing COVID-19 antibodies into the systems of patients still fighting the infection, this therapy aims to block adverse effects of the virus in the body in the early phase of illness before the patient can begin producing their own antibodies against the virus. The initial call was for 500 patients, with 80 percent set to receive the treatment at the North Shore University Medical Center and Long Island Jewish Medical Center. However, the study may expand to other facilities and ultimately involve thousands of patients. Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero has been a professor of anesthesiology at Stony Brook University since 2015, where he also serves as vice chair of clinical research and innovation in the anesthesiology department. Currently, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero is participating in a research study conducted by Stony Brook Medicine aimed at determining the efficacy of treatments for COVID-19 using the plasma of recovered patients.
As the novel coronavirus continues to rock the globe, health care professionals and researchers are working constantly towards new treatments and potential vaccines to stop the spread of the virus. One such avenue of research uses plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients. Though not thought of as a cure, convalescent plasma has shown great promise as a way to help COVID-19 patients recover faster. The concept of convalescent plasma as a treatment has been around for more than a century, and it has been used in the past to treat other respiratory afflictions, including during the 1918 influenza epidemic. Convalescent plasma is the liquid component of human blood left over when stripped of red and white blood cells. The theory behind this type of treatment is that the plasma of humans that have recovered from an illness will be rich with antibodies that can help the body fight the illness. Patients with COVID-19 receive convalescent plasma from survivors of the same disease in the hopes that the antibodies will help them recover faster. Early administration of this treatment is particularly important, as researchers believe the extra antibodies can help patients recover faster when they have not yet developed enough antibodies on their own. A resident of Stony Brook, New York, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero serves as professor and vice chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology of Stony Brook Medicine. Also fulfilling duties as the institution’s medical director for perioperative quality and patient safety, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero belongs to a medical team taking care of patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
COVID-19 has ravaged the world since the start of 2020, bringing everything to a near standstill. Many will be pleased to know that scientists around the world are working around the clock to develop a vaccine for the virus. As of July 22, 2020, there were more than 140 teams of global researchers working on vaccines. These vaccines were at different stages of development with 142 at the pre-clinical stage where they are tested on animals and 25 in the clinical stages where they are tested on humans. In the pre-clinical stage, vaccines are injected into animals to see if an immune response results. Vaccines that create a response move to the clinical stages (Phases I, II, and III). In Phase I, the potential vaccines are injected into a small number of people to test efficacy and safety. Safe and effective vaccines then move to Phase II where they are tested on hundreds of people to understand more about their safety and dosage, and later on to Phase III where they are tested on thousands of people. In this last phase, vaccines are tested for efficacy in comparison to a control group administered with a placebo. Only vaccines that prove safe and effective in all stages stand to receive approval for general use. A graduate of Duke University and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero serves as a professor and vice chair of clinical research of the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. An integral part of the medical school’s leadership, Dr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero is part of a team that has made its hospital a highly regarded cardiac center.
Stony Brook University Hospital has been recognized for its achievements in cardiac treatment in recent years, with Healthgrades once again naming the facility among the top 100 medical centers for cardiac care, coronary intervention, and stroke care. Healthgrades is a top online resource that rates the quality of doctors and hospitals. Patients who receive cardiac care at a top 100 hospital are less likely to die (28 percent) than if they were treated at a non-top 100 center. Additionally, stroke patients have a 40 percent decreased death risk. This data and more is available in Healthgrades’ report to the nations, which can be found at https://partners.healthgrades.com/healthgrades-quality-solutions/healthgrades-quality-awards/. |
AuthorDr. Elliott Bennett-Guerrero is both an educator and a vice chairman at Stony Brook Medicine. Archives
June 2022
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