Report on the Fifth PANDA Symposium on “Anesthesia and Neurodevelopment in Children”

On April 16 and 17, 2016, the Pediatric Anesthesia and Neurodevelopment Assessment (PANDA) study held its fifth biennial symposium at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York. The PANDA symposium has served as a key forum for clinicians, researchers, and other major stakeholders to gather and review the current state of preclinical and clinical research related to anesthetic neurotoxicity in children. Goals of the meeting included assessing how current knowledge has translated and impacted clinical care of patients who may be at risk, and future directions for research and policy. The program participants represented a diverse group with a shared concern of potential anesthetic neurotoxicity in children. It included clinicians, preclinical and clinical researchers as well as representatives from government organizations (FDA [Food and Drug Administration] and National Institutes of Health). A total of 135 attended the symposium.