Rebecca A. Aslakson

BIO

Rebecca A Aslakson MD PhD is a Professor with Tenure and the Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and the System Chief for Anesthesiology for the University of Vermont Health. Triple boarded in critical care, anesthesia, and hospice and palliative medicine and with a PhD in clinical research, Dr. Aslakson is devoted to an academic career improving the delivery of effective and equitable palliative care, particularly to surgical and critical care populations. She has led multiple studies integrating palliative care into ICU and/or surgical care settings and has been supported through over $5 million in awards from diverse funders, such as the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The National Palliative Care Research Center, and the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research. She has over 100 peer-reviewed publications and has received national and international awards including: the 2014 American Society of Anesthesiologists James E. Cottrell Presidential Scholar Award; the 2015 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) Early Investigator Award; being named a 2016 AAHPM “40 under 40” inspirational leader in palliative care; the 2019 Grenvik Family Award for Ethics from the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM); the 2024 Shubin-Weil Master Clinician/Teacher Award from SCCM; and the 2024 Burchardi Award from the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiology. She lives in South Burlington, VT with her husband, their two sons, and their two beloved little rescue dogs.

Publications

NIH Publications

Awards and Achievements

• 1994 Arthur Holly Compton Scholarship, four-year, full tuition with stipend, merit scholarship, Washington University in St. Louis. Only two scholarships (amongst approx. 3,000 students) awarded yearly. 
• 1994 National Science Scholarship, four–year merit scholarship awarded by the United States Department of Education. 
• 1994 Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship, four-year merit scholarship awarded by the United States Department of Education. 
• 1997 Barry Goldwater Scholarship. Awarded for research concerning latency-period intra-patient evolution of HIV. Awarded by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship Foundation. 
• 1999 US-Ireland Alliance Scholarship. One-year, full-tuition merit scholarship award by the US-Ireland Alliance. The only medicine-related scholar, I was one of twelve inaugural recipients of this highly prestigious award. As a US-Ireland Alliance Scholar, I obtained my Masters at the University of Ulster in Coleraine Northern Ireland and met with Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, and United States political leaders – including President Bill Clinton, Taiosech (President) of the Republic of Ireland Bertie Ahern, and First Minister (Highest Political Office) of the Northern Ireland Stormont government David Trimble. 
• 2000 International Achievement Summit. One of 125 international American Academy of Achievement graduate students selected. The conference was to foster leadership amongst the top graduate students in the world. As such, I had small and large group meeting with numerous Nobel prize winners (Frederick Sanger – the only person to receive two Nobel prizes, etc ), business leaders (i.e. – founders and CEO’s of Google and eBay, etc), political leaders (i.e. – Benazir Bhutto, Mikael Gorbachev, Lech Walesa, etc), artists (i.e. – Jeremy Irons, Quincy Jones, Kathleen Battle, etc.), and authors (Salman Rushdie, etc.). 
• 2007 Excellence in Teaching in Surgical Critical Care Award. Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine/Surgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital; Baltimore, MD. 
• 2011 “Best in Baltimore – Palliative Medicine”. Baltimore Magazine. For all physicians in the Baltimore metropolitan region, I was one of only two awardees in this category. 
• 2013 Super Doctors 2013 Washington, DC-Baltimore-Northern Virginia Rising Star. Selected through peer nomination and awarded by Key Professional Media, Inc., this designation is given to 2.5% of top young physicians – practicing 10 yrs or less – in the region with results published in The Washington Post Magazine. 
• 2013 Outstanding New Educational Program award from the Institute for Educational Excellence. This award was presented for the medical student Critical Care Clerkship that utilizes the Patient- and family-centered palliative medicine-related communication and conflict resolution in the ICU teaching curriculum. 
• 2013 Clinician Scientist Award – The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. - 2013 Society of Critical Care Medicine Family-Centered ICU Award. This international award is presented to one ICU per year. 
• 2014 The American Society of Anesthesiologists Presidential Scholar award. This prestigious award is bestowed to the top anesthesia researcher-clinician in the country who is within 10 years of finishing training. I was the first female recipient in the award’s 12 year history. 
• 2015 The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Early Career Investigator Award. This prestigious award is bestowed to the top palliative medicine researcher-clinician in the country who is in an early stage of their research career. 
• 2015 Top “40 under 40” Inspirational National Leaders in Palliative Care, The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. 
• 2017 Distinguished Alumna Award, The Johns Hopkins University. These prestigious awards are annually bestowed to 12 alumni of the Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine and Public Health. 
• 2017 Resident Research Mentor Award, The Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. 
• 2019 Grenvik Family Award for Ethics, The Society of Critical Care Medicine. This international award is given to one individual a year to recognize “excellence promoting humanistic and ethical values in critical care”. 
• 2020 Stanford University Faculty Women’s Forum Outstanding Sponsor Award. This annual award recognizes outstanding sponsorship/mentorship of trainees and junior faculty and is presented to a single faculty member across all of Stanford University. I was the inaugural recipient of the award. 
• 2021 Stanford Leadership Development Program. Stanford Center for Continuing Medical Education. 
• 2024 Shubin-Weil Master Clinician/Teacher: Excellence in Bedside Teaching Award. The Society of Critical Care Medicine. This international award is bestowed to one physician a year to recognize “a role model in both the teaching and ethical practice of care”. 
• 2024 Burchardi Award. The Society of Critical Care Anesthesiology. Bestowed once every two years, this award recognizes an individual who has made “considerable contributions to critical care anesthesiology in research, ability to motivate and touch people, and leadership defined by competence, humility, and humanity. I am only the second female recipient in the history of the award. 
• 2025 Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Fellowship. Drexel University. My Institutional Action Project addressed a unified approach to compensation for anesthesiology across the Network Department of Anesthesiology within the University of Vermont Health Network.