W. Andrew kofke, m.d., mba, fccm
Professor, Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, Neurosurgery
Director, Neuroanesthesia
Co-Director, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Neurocritical Care Program
Dr Kofke graduated from Bucknell University with a BS in chemistry. While there he participated in organic research, coauthoring a paper in the Journal of Organic Chemistry. He subsequently received an MD from the University of Pittsburgh where he was exposed to the new specialties of emergency medicine and critical care medicine and worked with Peter Safar and his colleagues in early studies in neuroprotection after global brain ischemia. All through high school, college, and medical school he was active in prehospital EMS as a volunteer ambulance attendant.
Dr Kofke did his internship at Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh, and his residency in anesthesiology and fellowship in critical care medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.
His first faculty position was at Penn State, Hershey Medical Center. While at Penn State, working with Hawkins and Biebuyck, both prior students of Hans Krebs, he became involved in several studies of anesthetics and brain energy metabolism while clinically practicing neuroanesthesia and general critical care.
Since then he has been involved in the development and growth of the stroke program at the University of Pittsburgh, the NeuroICU programs at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pennsylvania and the simulation programs at West Virginia University and Penn. He has directed the neuroanesthesia programs at Penn State, Pitt WVU, and Penn and was Vice Chair of Anesthesiology at WVU.
Dr Kofke’s research interests have dealt with effects and interactions of anesthetics with brain ischemia and epilepsy, with a specific interest in characterizing opioid induced neuroexcitation and neurotoxicity. Clinical research interests have additionally included studies of transcranial Doppler Ultrasonography, XeCTCBF, genotypic susceptibility to ischemic brain damage, anesthetics for epilepsy,y and opioid neuroexcitation.
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Email address: Andrew.Kofke@uphs.upenn.edu