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IRVINE — Dr. Zeev N. Kain, a Yale anesthesiologist widely recognized for work helping children through the stress and pain of surgery, has been named professor and chair of UC Irvine’s Department of Anesthesiology.

Kain, who was appointed after a national search, also will serve as UC Irvine Medical Center’s anesthesiologist in chief and as associate dean for clinical research in the School of Medicine. He was executive vice chair of anesthesiology at Yale University School of Medicine and anesthesiologist in chief and director of the Pediatric Surgery Center at the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital.

“The recruitment of Zeev Kain is a boon for the Department of Anesthesiology and for all of UC Irvine Health Affairs,” said Dr. David N. Bailey, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “He will bring inspired leadership to anesthesiology and be instrumental in spearheading new research initiatives.”

Kain will lead a department with 40 faculty members, 24 resident physicians and 15 nurse anesthetists. Its group of anesthesiologists provides continuous coverage for all of the professional services at the UC Irvine Medical Center and affiliated clinics, including surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, radiology, gastroenterology, emergency and trauma medicine, and acute and chronic pain management.

“The scheduled 2009 opening of the New University Hospital and the expected increase in services create exciting opportunities for the Department of Anesthesiology and UC Irvine Healthcare,” Kain said. “Our vision will be to establish national excellence and prominence in clinical care, education and research. As part of this vision, we are planning for an expansion of the clinical faculty and enhancing the various sub-specialty services and pain management services.”

Kain is recognized as an international expert in the clinical management of surgery-related anxiety and pain and in the management of children undergoing invasive medical procedures. His research triggered a change in the manner in which children are treated during the perioperative period, which is the time period surrounding a patient’s surgical procedure and includes ward admission, anesthesia, surgery and recovery. As a direct result of Kain’s research, significantly fewer children are taken into the operating rooms and sedation suites awake, alone and crying.

His research is supported by $6.6 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health. In addition, Kain is a member of the editorial board of the journals “Anesthesiology,” “Pediatrics,” “Journal of Clinical Anesthesia” and “Journal of Pediatric Psychology,” and he has more than 243 original articles, case reports, book chapters and abstracts to his credit. He also will conduct research though a joint affiliation with the Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange.

As associate dean for clinical research in the School of Medicine, under the general direction of Dr. William Bunney, the senior associate dean for research, Kain will help foster an environment that encourages new clinical research initiatives that include clinical trials.

At Yale, Kain also served as executive director of The Center for the Advancement of Perioperative Health and as chairman of Yale Medical Group’s Finance Committee.

He received his bachelor’s and medical degrees from Ben-Gurion School of Medicine in Israel in 1986 and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in 2002. He also completed a Robert Wood Johnson Research Fellowship at Yale in 1993.

Kain will earn an annual professorial base salary of $111,800. Other compensation information is available upon request.

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