by Jessica Pasley
Isaac Chinnappan, MS, CCP, LCP, a senior cardiopulmonary perfusionist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, was recently inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion (AACP), a distinction given to a select group of perfusion professionals.
In the past 45 years, only 130 perfusionists have received the recognition, which honors contributions to enhancing perfusion techniques, new findings in perfusion clinical practice, presentations and publications.
“This is a huge honor to be inducted as a fellow,” said Nicole Michaud, MS, CCP, LCP, chief pediatric perfusionist at Children’s Hospital. “Isaac is extremely passionate about the research realm of perfusion and particularly in relationship to pediatrics.
“He takes ownership of his research projects and loves to share his expertise with others. His dedication to our profession is inspiring to our staff as well as our students,” said Michaud, also an AACP Fellow.
In addition, Chinnappan was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Society of Extracorporeal Technology (AmSECT), which named him the Zone 3 director for the society.
In this role, Chinnappan will serve as the representative for a 10-state region for a three-year term.
AmSECT, the largest professional society of perfusion in the country, works to foster improved patient care and safety by providing the continuing education and professional needs of perfusionists. The board reviews and approves the code of ethics, scope of practice and standards and guidelines of clinical perfusion.
The AmSECT Board of Directors also elected Chinnappan as a member of the International Consortium for Evidence-Based Perfusion (ICEBP), which is an international collaboration of perfusion societies, medical societies, clinicians and industry to continuously improve the delivery of care and outcomes for patients who require cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass.
“Being inducted as an AACP fellow, elected as one of the Board of Directors of AmSECT and elected to the ICEBP will facilitate my ability to get an integrated and collaborated knowledge of clinical perfusion practice across the globe as well as here at Children’s Hospital that will benefit our pediatric, cardiac patient population,” said Chinnappan. “I am honored through these accomplishments and recognitions and extremely thankful for this opportunity to represent our institution at the national and international levels.”
