# Reducing Reintubation Risk in High-Risk Cardiac Surgery Patients with High-Flow Nasal Cannula -the "I-CAN" study

> **NIH NIH K23** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2022 · $170,194

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Candidate: Dr. Robert E. Freundlich, MD, MS is an Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical
Center (VUMC). Dr. Freundlich has a strong background in clinical informatics, gained through his research
fellowship and ongoing work as the Associate Medical Director of the Vanderbilt Anesthesiology and
Perioperative Informatics Research Division (VAPIR). His long-term career plan is to become a physician-
scientist capable of leveraging advanced informatics tools to conduct high quality pragmatic clinical trials in the
intensive care unit and perioperative care. To achieve this, he will gain expertise in pragmatic clinical trial
design, advanced use of a widely-available commercial electronic health record (EHR), executive leadership
development, and board certification in clinical informatics.
Research Project: More than half a million adult patients undergo cardiac surgery each year in the United
States, 5-10% of whom will experience reintubation. Reintubation after cardiac surgery is associated with
higher short- and long-term mortality, increased cost, and longer lengths of stay. As patients undergoing
cardiac surgery are increasing in age, comorbidity burden, and receive increasingly complex cardiac surgical
procedures, efforts to identify strategies that can effectively prevent reintubation are of critical importance.
Career Development: Dr. Freundlich's career development plan integrates formal coursework with
personalized training with his mentors and collaborators to 1) strengthen his methodologic foundation in the
conduct of pragmatic comparative effectiveness trials; 2) develop expertise in the implementation of EHR-
embedded clinical trial design; 3) advanced statistical modeling techniques to improve risk prediction; and 4)
bolster his skills as a leader of a multi-disciplinary research team.
Environment: VUMC is an established leader in biostatistics, perioperative informatics, and pragmatic clinical
trial design and conduct. It is the ideal environment to foster Dr. Freundlich's development into a national
leader in his field. Dr. Freundlich has identified experts at VUMC, each of whom is a leader in his or her field
and will help mentor Dr. Freundlich towards his goal of research independence. Vanderbilt's Clinical and
Translational Science Award (CTSA) funded “Learning Healthcare System”, intended to facilitate research that
uses novel methods to integrate clinical research into clinical care, will help Dr. Freundlich as he works on the
proposed research and career development plans.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10397665
- **Project number:** 5K23HL148640-03
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert Edward Freundlich
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $170,194
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-05-15 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10397665

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10397665, Reducing Reintubation Risk in High-Risk Cardiac Surgery Patients with High-Flow Nasal Cannula -the "I-CAN" study (5K23HL148640-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10397665. Licensed CC0.

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