As an anesthesiologist and laboratory neuroscientist, Dr. Daniel Cook aims to identify clinical challenges that can be overcome with strategies derived from a deeper understanding of basic neurobiology and pharmacology. His research uses microscopy and state-of-the-art optical biosensors expressed in neurons to uncover poorly understood targets affected by anesthetic drugs that may better explain their impact on the central nervous system.

In 2023, Dr. Cook was the recipient of a K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The five-year, $975,000 award supports Dr. Cook’s research titled “Metabolic impact of intralipid on synaptic function as a mechanism of resuscitation in local anesthetic systemic toxicity.”  The goal of this project is to understand if metabolism of intravenous lipid emulsions by neurons in the brain is a mechanism by which these therapies reverse local anesthetic systemic toxicity – a potentially fatal syndrome – in the central nervous system. Dr. Cook’s primary research mentor is Dr. Timothy Ryan, Tri-Institutional Professor of Biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine.

In addition to this current support, Dr. Cook was also a 2020 recipient of a Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG) from the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) for his project, “How local anesthetics disrupt intracellular calcium stores and the impact on synaptic function and neurotoxicity” and he was selected to the inaugural class of the Burroughs Wellcome Weill Cornell Physician Scientist Academy. He is also a Van Poznak Anesthesiology Research Scholar.