Holger K. Eltzschig, M.D., Ph.D., Recipient of the 2026 Award for Excellence in Research
The Institute of Perioperative Medicine is proud to announce that Holger K. Eltzschig, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and founding Director of the Institute, has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Excellence in Research Award.
The Excellence in Research Award is one of the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ highest honors for scientific achievement. Presented annually, the award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to research that have had a significant impact on the practice of anesthesiology. The award recognizes not only the importance and originality of a recipient’s scientific contributions, but also their broader influence on the field through sustained excellence in research.
Over more than two decades, Dr. Eltzschig has built a research program focused on one of the most important and persistent challenges in perioperative medicine: delayed organ injury and its contribution to postoperative mortality. His laboratory has defined critical molecular pathways centered on hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) signaling. Early work showed that HIFs are stabilized not only by hypoxia but also by inflammation; a discovery that fundamentally changed understanding of the relationship between these two processes. Subsequent studies demonstrated that activating HIF pathways protects against acute lung injury, acute kidney injury, myocardial ischemia, and liver injury. The lab has also identified key downstream mediators, including extracellular adenosine signaling and specific microRNAs, and more recently uncovered a novel interaction between HIF-2α and the circadian regulator BMAL1 that helps explain time-of-day differences in myocardial injury.
Importantly, these discoveries have moved beyond the laboratory. Research on HIF protection in the pulmonary epithelium led directly to a randomized phase II clinical trial of pharmacologic HIF activation in 448 patients with ARDS. The trial showed reduced disease severity, particularly in the most hypoxic patients. A phase III trial is now underway. Parallel translational efforts are advancing in renal, cardiac, and hepatic injury.
Dr. Eltzschig’s impact extends well beyond his own science. Since becoming Chair in 2016, he has transformed the Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston into one of the most academically productive programs in the country and established an NIH-funded T32 training program. As founding Director of the Institute of Perioperative Medicine, he has built a multidepartmental research enterprise involving more than 50 faculty members, approximately 100 trainees, and over $200 million in active funding. He has mentored more than 60 scientists and physician-scientists, 30 of whom have received NIH support and 14 of whom now lead independent R01 programs.
His scholarly record includes more than 340 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, more than 44,000 citations, and an h-index of 111. He has maintained continuous federal funding for many years and ranks among the most highly funded investigators in anesthesiology.
We congratulate Dr. Eltzschig on this well-deserved recognition and thank the colleagues whose nominations helped secure the award. While the award recognizes an exceptional individual career, it also reflects the collective efforts of the trainees, colleagues, collaborators, and research teams who have contributed to this body of work and to the research culture Dr. Eltzschig has built at UTHealth Houston and the Institute of Perioperative Medicine.
Click the link to view the full article: Holger K. Eltzschig, M.D., Ph.D., Recipient of the 2026 Award for Excellence in Research (external link)
