AAP Robert M Smith Award

Joseph P. Cravero, MD, FAAP
2025 Robert M. Smith Recipient

Presentation: Friday, March 28, 2025; 12:10pm ET

Dr. Cravero is one of the true pioneers in pediatric anesthesia and pediatric sedation services. In 2004, he founded the Pediatric Sedation Research Consortium (PSRC), which has significantly improved the safety and efficacy of pediatric sedation services across multiple institutions. In 2006, he founded the Society for Pediatric Sedation (SPS) and served as its President and Chair of the Board of Directors from 2006 to 2010. Currently, SPS has more than 900 members in the USA and Canada, and its leadership award is called the Joseph P. Cravero Leadership Award. Dr. Cravero has played an active role in the AAP Section on Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, serving as an Executive Committee member from 2000 to 2011 and its Chair from 2006 to 2018. He also served on the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) Board of Directors from 2012 to 2017. He is currently the Chair of the Pediatric Anesthesia Leadership Council. He founded the SPA Improvement Network, which collects and analyzes data on difficult pain management cases at ten academic children's hospitals in the United States. Dr. Cravero is a prolific author with more than 80 peer-reviewed research publications, 30 other peer-reviewed publications, 34 book chapters, numerous reviews, invited editorials, and letters. He is a senior examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology and an elected member of the Association of University Anesthesiologists. He also serves on the Editorial Board of 2 prestigious journals, Anesthesia and Analgesia and Pediatric Anesthesia. In addition, he has received multiple teaching awards. Dr. Cravero has trained and mentored numerous pediatric anesthesiologists at Dartmouth and Boston Children's Hospital, who have gone on to have successful careers in pediatric anesthesiology. His humble, caring, and uncluttered approach to pediatric anesthesia has inspired many of his students and mentees.