About PALNET.
PALNET — the Pediatric Anesthesia Learning Network for EEG Technologies — is an international, clinician-led educational organization advancing the safe, effective, and practical adoption of EEG-guided pediatric anesthesia. Founded in 2022 with an initial focus on processed EEG, PALNET provides didactic materials, on-site in-OR teaching, workshops, and simulation sessions with an emphasis on real-world implementation.
Why PALNET exists
Processed EEG is increasingly available in pediatric operating rooms, yet adoption of EEG-guided pediatric anesthesia has been slow. Key barriers include limited structured training during residency, fellowship, and post-graduate education; uncertainty in EEG interpretation across pediatric anesthetic states and developmental stages; and a lack of local expertise to train faculty, trainees, and allied anesthesia professionals.
PALNET addresses these barriers through hands-on education, in-OR teaching, workshops, and mentorship designed to build clinician confidence and sustainable practice.
Mission
To educate and train pediatric anesthesia clinicians on EEG-guided anesthesia — to improve safety, outcomes, and sustainability for patients and the earth.
Vision
EEG-guided anesthesia will become a standard for anesthetic dosing and neurological monitoring, and a core competency in pediatric anesthesia education and certification.
Values
PALNET's values are operational and integrity-focused:
- Vendor-agnostic education. PALNET supports EEG-guided anesthesia education across qualified pediatric EEG devices. Devices should be FDA cleared for pediatrics and display raw EEG, the density spectral array (DSA), and the spectral edge frequency (SEF).
- Transparency and integrity. Members disclose conflicts of interest if they receive money directly from, or hold investments in, for-profit companies relevant to EEG technologies.
- Open collaboration. Members are free to collaborate with external organizations and to write and speak about EEG and EEG-guided pediatric anesthesia, with appropriate disclosure.
- Mission-aligned partnership. PALNET may invite partners to workshops and site visits when consistent with the educational mission.
What PALNET does
- Provides a curriculum for EEG-guided pediatric anesthesia — reading materials, lectures, smartphone-ready tables and figures, and an online knowledge assessment.
- Conducts on-site educational visits to children's hospitals and pediatric centers.
- Delivers experiential learning through case-based EEG interpretation and "at-the-elbow" in-OR teaching during live cases.
- Builds local expertise through a train-the-trainer model — identifying, educating, and mentoring a cohort of local site clinicians who become experts and train their colleagues.
- Enables continuous learning through post-site-visit access to PALNET site teachers and other PALNET experts.
- Runs workshops using a case-based EEG video library and simulator.
How PALNET works
PALNET education and training typically follows a repeatable implementation pathway:
- Pre-learning. Curriculum review and baseline knowledge assessment (where used).
- On-site visit. Case-based teaching and in-OR coaching during live cases.
- Train-the-trainer. Targeted mentorship of local clinicians who will become site teachers.
- Post-visit support. Coaching and continued access to PALNET experts to consolidate practice and expand within the department.
- Workshops. Periodic refresher and advanced learning using video cases and simulation.
Structure
- Leadership. Officers with expertise in EEG-guided pediatric anesthesia and a commitment to education. Decisions are made by consensus; meetings occur bi-monthly or as needed.
- Partners. For-profit companies providing the technologies, expertise, and financial assets needed to achieve PALNET's mission (e.g., commercial EEG vendors and simulation platforms).
- Collaborators. Not-for-profit organizations and philanthropists with aligned interests in brain protection, anesthetic pharmacology, EEG-guided anesthesia, and education.
- Research. PALNET does not conduct clinical or laboratory research itself; it offers expertise to researchers, and members may collaborate as co-investigators on aligned studies.
- Core services. Education, marketing, membership, and finance — site-visit and workshop orchestration, the website, member connections, communications, grants, and fiscal management.
Leadership
Current officers:
- C. Dean Kurth, MD — Executive Administrator (Philadelphia)
- Ian Yuan, MD (San Diego)
- Mihir Parikh, MD (Dallas)
- Robin Presson, MD (Indianapolis)
- Gregory Johnson, MD (Toronto)
- Julia Galvez Delgado, MD, MBI, FASA (Boston)
- Isabella Jaramillo, MD
- Michael Puglia, MD
Membership
PALNET includes 20 pediatric anesthesia department members across the United States, Canada, and Brazil, with a growing network of individual clinicians and allied professionals. Expansion into Asia — including South Korea, China, and Japan — is underway.
Membership can be departmental (preferred for on-site teaching) or include individual pediatric anesthesia clinicians and allied professionals.
Partners & collaborators
Partners (for-profit organizations providing technology and resources):
- Masimo Co. — Sedline anesthesia EEG (FDA cleared for pediatrics)
- Medtronic Co. — BIS Advance anesthesia EEG (FDA cleared for pediatrics)
- SmartTiva Co. — SEDSIM portable EEG simulator (interfaces with Sedline and BIS Advance; FDA cleared for EEG anesthesia simulation)
Collaborators (not-for-profit organizations with aligned missions):
- Smart Brain Initiative (SBI), Germany
- SmartTots (International Anesthesia Research Society)
Get involved
- Interested in joining PALNET? Contact us to discuss membership options and readiness for implementation.
- Want hands-on education? Request a PALNET site visit for your department.
- Prefer a concentrated learning experience? Attend an upcoming PALNET workshop.