Zeev Kain, MD is the Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care at UC Irvine Health, Associate Dean for Clinical Research and the director of the UCI Center on Stress & Health. Dr. Kain is recognized as an international expert in the clinical management of perioperative fear and anxiety, and management of children undergoing invasive medical procedures. His research addresses major dilemmas encountered in the management of affected children. Over his 20-year career, Dr. Kain has worked with more than 3,000 children and published more than 150 articles, research that has triggered a change in the way children are treated during invasive medical procedures and before and after surgery. Because of his research, children around the world now suffer less anxiety before and less pain after surgeries. Here, at the UCI Center on Stress & Health, Dr. Kain is the lead investigator for studies funded by National Institute of Health (NIH). His goal is to continue to do research that will benefit children and their parents.
Dr. Kain is recognized as an international expert in the clinical management of perioperative fear and anxiety, and management of children undergoing invasive medical procedures. His research addresses major dilemmas encountered in the management of affected children.
To date, Dr. Kain has revolutionized the care of children in preoperative settings both in the United States and around the globe. In fact, Dr. Kain’s research triggered a change in the manner in which children are treated during invasive medical procedures and during the perioperative period. As a direct result of Dr. Kain’s research, significantly fewer children in the US and around the globe are taken into the operating rooms and sedation suites, awake, alone and screaming and crying. Dr. Kain achieved this by demonstrating that extreme anxiety and fear in children undergoing surgery and invasive procedures is associated with poor clinical and psychological outcomes of these children and thus should not be allowed.
Dr. Kain leads a team of researchers at the Center on Stress & Health, where they are dedicated to investigating multi-disciplinary approaches to managing pain and anxiety in a wide range of medical settings and situations. The team focuses on assisting children and families manage pain, anxiety and stress surrounding the medical environment and disease burden.
By promoting the conceptual importance of this field and continuing to develop associated empirical findings, Dr. Kain intends to markedly improve the quality of evidence available to anesthesiologists, pediatricians and surgeons making clinical decisions regarding management of children’s distress and pain during the perioperative period.
