Jun 18, 2026
Two CHP students selected to present research at a major conference for nurse anesthetists
Two doctoral students in the Virginia Commonwealth University College of Health Professions have been selected to present their research at the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiologists’ (AANA) 2026 annual congress in Boston.
Among the presenters will be Alexandra Rieker, BSN, RN, and Douglas Stanfill, BSN, RN, who are both nurse anesthesiology residents in VCU’s DNAP program.
Billed as nurse anesthesiology’s largest annual educational event, the congress will be held from Aug. 21-26 and will feature nationally recognized speakers, workshops, and keynotes.
“It’s really the biggest stage that we offer CRNAs or trainees to be able to present their doctoral work,” said Nickie Damico, Ph.D., Herbert T. Watson Endowed Professor and chair of the Department of Nurse Anesthesia. “For them, this is a great honor, and it really does a great deal for the institution for us to have representatives, whether they're faculty or students.”
The research
Rieker’s presentation, titled “Targeted Transfusion: Use of Thromboelastography in Postpartum Hemorrhage,” examines the use of viscoelastic testing (TEG/ROTEM) to guide transfusion therapy in obstetric patients. Rieker says postpartum hemorrhage remains one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide, so it is possible these technologies and lab tests can help clinicians find coagulation abnormalities a lot faster and reduce the amount of blood product transfused.
Rieker also says these lab tests are used frequently in Europe in the event of postpartum hemorrhage, bleeding after childbirth, and delivery. They have been found to be more useful than current standards of care.
According to Rieker, patients have historically been given fixed-ratio transfusions, which have been studied in the trauma population. “The trauma population and the obstetric population are different in a lot of ways physiologically, so my research focuses on the use of these tests in postpartum hemorrhage,” she said.
Her work investigating the evidence surrounding these tools stemmed from Rieker’s time serving as an ICU nurse for three years before starting her graduate program at CHP. In the ICU, she was caring for patients after postpartum hemorrhage and obstetric emergencies, where timing was of the essence.
“My mentors, Dr. Crystal O’Guin and Dr. Crystal Honeycutt, at VCU have been really beneficial in helping guide me towards this topic and helping me facilitate this doctoral research. I'm really grateful to them, as well as the rest of the VCU faculty,” said Rieker. “I appreciate that VCU places a lot of emphasis on evidence-based practice and research in nurse anesthesia, and that has been really helpful to me in guiding my project.”
Stanfill’s project is titled “From Fixed Targets to Personalized Cerebral Perfusion in Neurosurgical Patients: Blood Pressure Management Strategies Guided by Cerebral Autoregulation Monitoring,” and will be co-presented with Dr. Jiale (Gary) Hu, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, director of research and global outreach in the Department of Nurse Anesthesia.
The presentation analyzes the limitations of conventional strategies for effective blood pressure management during neurosurgical procedures, particularly in patients with impaired cerebral autoregulation. Stanfill and Hu will also discuss how advanced intraoperative monitoring, such as near-infrared spectroscopy and pressure reactivity, can benefit patients. Stanfill’s work on the subject began last semester as part of a research project, which led Professor Hu to suggest that he submit an abstract on this topic to the annual congress.
“A lot of times we're given a target number for blood pressure, like a mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) of 80, but the problem is that in many cases, the cerebral autoregulation (maintaining constant blood flow to the brain) for patients is skewed or even absent because of the disease or trauma requiring surgical intervention,” Stanfill specified. “Those fixed targets don't necessarily work when a patient's cerebral autoregulation falls outside the normal parameters. By using individualized, autoregulation-guided strategies, we can better refine our anesthetic care. This research is basically a literature review looking through different studies, general evidence-based practices, and gathering evidence of anesthetic modalities and outcomes to just make that step something that people are striving for.”
Stanfill said that his project utilizes a global health research database called TriNetX, which pulls hospital data from around the world, to compare pressors used to maintain blood pressure and their effects on cerebral blood perfusion.
“TrinetX also has analytics built in; you can run different modules to balance cohorts and refine statistics. Hopefully, when it's all finished, I'll have some more definitive answers on what medications are associated with negative outcomes,” he said. “Of course, it's all patient-specific. Just because this is the best thing to give for maintaining cerebral perfusion, it might not mean it’s the best thing for a patient if they have, say, coronary artery disease or severe valvular stenosis, but it will give us a good baseline and hopefully emphasize the nuance of patient-specific goals.”
What the Congress can mean for the students
According to Damico, the AANA Congress is one of the most well-attended conferences for nurse anesthesia professionals, and it also provides CHP students with a broader platform to present their work and prepare them for future speaking engagements.
“It gives them an opportunity to experience the entire breadth of the [speaking] process, which is very intimidating to a lot of people, to put yourself out there through a blinded review process,” Damico said. “They're not leaning on the reputation of their institution; this is just them. We have historically found a very strong correlation between those who successfully submitted an abstract as a trainee and those who go on to do so again: they have experienced the entire process and feel more comfortable. I think it's a super empowering thing for them to do.”
Stanfill said that presenting at the AANA Congress is not only a huge honor but a “good resume builder.”
“Dr. Hu was the professor of the class I was in for the original research, and now he is the chair for my doctoral project. The fact that he saw something in that research and suggested that I apply for this meant a lot in itself,” Stanfill said. “To have been accepted is mind-boggling to me, almost; it’s a bit nerve-racking, but it's truly an honor.”
He said he is reaching out to colleagues and other students to practice his presentation.
“My goal is just to practice this thing to the point where it's all memorized,” He said.
For Rieker, she said VCU has been helping them prepare, with Dr. Hu setting up a practice that will assist them in preparing for the stage in Boston.
“After doing all of this research and choosing a topic I'm really passionate about, I hope to be so well-versed in my research that by the time I get to the AANA Congress, I'll be excited to share the information with a wider population of colleagues,” Rieker said.
Rieker also hopes to shed light on viscoelastic testing in obstetrics, which, she says, is an evolving field. This has made some of the research challenging, especially in determining where the evidence is strong and where further investigation is needed.
“There exist many opportunities for research in this area. Obstetric emergencies are a rapidly evolving field, sometimes making it difficult to research, but it also presents many opportunities for continued advancement and better patient care,” she said.
Rieker also hopes that presenting is the first step in nurse anesthesia leadership.
“Getting the opportunity to present as a student at a big conference is definitely a huge honor, and also a lot of pressure, but in a good way,” she said.