John F. Garde Researcher of the Year Award

2024 Recipient John F. Garde Researcher of the Year Award

John O’Donnell, DrPH, CRNA, FAANA, FAAN, FSSH

The AANA Foundation presented the prestigious 2024 John F. Garde Researcher of the Year Award to John O’Donnell, DrPH, CRNA, FAANA, FAAN, FSSH. 

Dr. O’Donnell is Department Chair, professor, and program director at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing Department of Nurse Anesthesia. Dr. O’Donnell’s research is immense, with a large portion being related to the use of simulation for nurse anesthesia education. He has conducted research with his students to determine the spectrum of both technical skills and nontechnical skills that are taught and tested with simulation. O’Donnell also serves as the WISER Associate Director of the International Simulation Fellowship where he supports their research and scholarship efforts. As part of his WISER duties, he chairs the Research and Scholarship Committee. In this capacity he is Principal Investigator of an umbrella IRB that supports simulation research and scholarship. Dr. O’Donnell is one of the first two US CRNAs honored as a Fellow of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare where he has served as Treasurer, a member of the Executive Board and currently as the Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee.

“I am deeply honored and grateful to accept the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology Researcher of the Year Award. Looking back on my 43 years of nursing and my 33 years as a CRNA, I would have to say that research and scholarship have been the foundational core of my professional life and have allowed me to develop as scholar, author and speaker. Growing up as one of seven children, the son of a steelworker and a first-generation college student, I could never have imagined that my life and professional journey would bring me to the peak of this wonderful profession. I am grateful for the support of my wife Melinda and my three children, one of whom has followed in my footsteps to become a CRNA. I am also grateful for my supportive Dean, my fellow Nurse Anesthesia faculty at Pitt and of course my inspiring and incredibly talented students. Finally, I would like to thank the AANA Foundation for selecting me for this award and my anonymous CRNA colleague who nominated me. While I do not know the name of this individual, please know that you have my unending gratitude for this prestigious honor!”