Paul S. García, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Chief of Neuroanesthesia at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. He completed his MD at Emory University School of Medicine and his PhD in Bioengineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology through the Medical Scientist Training Program. His academic work integrates systems neuroscience, anesthetic pharmacology, and perioperative brain health, with a particular emphasis on electroencephalographic (EEG) biomarkers of consciousness, analgesia, emergence from anesthesia, and postoperative neurocognitive recovery.
Dr. García leads a translational research program that combines preclinical neurophysiology, computational neuroscience, and clinical EEG monitoring to better understand how anesthetic drugs and aging influence neural network function. His laboratory has contributed to the identification of EEG signatures associated with postoperative delirium, nociception, and recovery trajectories after general anesthesia. He has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed scientific publications and numerous invited reviews and textbook chapters in anesthesiology and neuroscience.
His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the James S. McDonnell Foundation, and industry-sponsored investigations. He currently serves as Principal Investigator of an NIH-funded study examining EEG-guided analgesic titration to improve postoperative neurocognitive recovery in older surgical patients. He is also co-inventor of several technologies focused on precision EEG-guided perioperative care and has participated in the development of novel neurophysiologic monitoring platforms.
Dr. García has held multiple national leadership positions within the Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care and the American Society of Anesthesiologists, including service on research, education, and scientific advisory committees. His clinical and academic interests include neuroanesthesia, perioperative delirium, consciousness, sleep and anesthesia, and EEG-guided precision anesthesiology.
